I am so grateful to my colleagues for their votes this week in support of my legislation, known as Kayleigh’s Law, which protects victims of dangerous crimes from their abusers.
I introduced Kayleigh’s Law in order to deliver stronger, lifelong protection to survivors of federal sex crimes and violent felonies by requiring courts to issue permanent no-contact injunctions against convicted offenders.
The goal of this legislation is to eliminate the "legal tug-of-war" where survivors must repeatedly face their attackers in court to maintain basic safety protections. Having passed at the state level in both Arizona and Wisconsin, this legislation, named after Kayleigh Kozak, a young mother from Arizona who was victimized as a child, prohibits all forms of direct or indirect contact with the victim for the rest of the guilty predator's life. The prohibition will remain in effect even after prison, probation, or supervised release ends.
As I said on the floor before the bipartisan vote, Kayleigh’s Law (H.R. 8481) started in Arizona. It works. In its first year alone, more than a thousand survivors in our state secured lifetime protection from the people who hurt them. H.R. 8481 would give every American victim of a federal sex crime or violent felony that same shield. This bill is simple. When a predator is convicted, federal courts must issue a lifelong no-contact injunction. Not until probation ends. Not until some judge decides the offender has “moved on.” For life. Victims should never again have to fill out another form, sit across from their abuser, or look over their shoulder because the sentence ran out and the system shrugged.
As a former prosecutor, I have sat across from victims. I know how vulnerable they are. I know how determined their predators are. And I know how often modern courts fail them, how they treat lifetime safety like an afterthought and force survivors back into a legal tug-of-war just to stay free of the person who hurt them. Kayleigh lived that failure. She should not have had to. Healing cannot begin if the abuser can show up again the day after release. Justice is not complete if the victim still lives in fear. Arizona already closed that gap. It is time the federal government did the same, so no American, no matter which state they live in, is left unprotected after a federal conviction.
Original cosponsors of my bill include Representatives Brian Babin (TX-36) , Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Tim Burchett (TN-02), Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06), Eli Crane (AZ-02), Troy Downing (MT-02), Mike Ezell (MS-04), Brandon Gill (TX-26), Paul Gosar (AZ-09), David Joyce (OH-14), Nancy Mace (SC-01), Dan Meuser (PA-09), Barry Moore (AL-01), Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chris Smith (NJ-04), David Schweikert (AZ-01), Greg Steube (FL-17), Marlin Stutzman (IN-03), David Taylor (OH-02), and Delegate Kimberly King-Hinds (MP).
