Arizona law aims to protect children from parents with histories of domestic violence

A new Arizona law is designed to make it difficult for those who commit domestic violence to get custody of their children or have unsupervised visits.

There are already laws that instruct judges on how they make decisions about what happens to children when couples divorce. They require judges to prioritize the best interests of the child in determining whether there is joint custody, under what conditions there is visitation times, and even who gets to make decisions.

But Glendale Republican Rep. Lisa Fink said there has been too much left in a gray area.

The prior law said in making these decisions, a judge needed to determine if there was "significant domestic violence,'' which Fink said some judges thought was problematic language.

"What is 'significant’ domestic violence?'” Fink said.

The new law removes that word "significant." Judges also are required to consider evidence from various sources — including law enforcement, medical records, witness testimony and records from domestic violence shelters.

It also prohibits a court that has determined there has been domestic violence from requiring the victims to prove that it was "severe or frequent enough" to justify restricting the assailant's decision-making or parenting time.

And it specifically says a parent who committed domestic violence cannot get unsupervised — or even in some cases, supervised — parenting time unless that person presents "clear and convincing evidence" that such restrictions are unnecessary.

The change in state law can be traced to the efforts of Hope Hooton, a Surprise woman whose ex-husband, Brock Mater. killed their two children, 7-year-old Alec and 4-year-old Lydia, during an unsupervised visit and then killed himself.

During hearings on the measure, Hooten detailed for lawmakers a history of her ex-husband’s mental and physical violence.

"He controlled our finances, what I ate, and how I exercised," she testified. "He called me degrading names and threw objects at me."

But Hooton said there was never any abuse directed at the children.

Fink said Thursday the facts of that case form much of the basis for the new law, linking violence by one partner against the other to that assailant's potential danger in the future to the children.

"That's something that we have seen over and over again: When there has been domestic violence, that it does put the children at risk," she said.

Hooton told lawmakers that after she filed for divorce she obtained an order of protection against her husband, which did not include Alec and Lydia.

"The court did not fully evaluate strangulation, coercive control, suicidal or filicidal ideation, and acute psychiatric instability before granting unsupervised parenting time," she said.

Hooton said that decision reflected the law at the time as interpreted by judges.

"In family court, mothers are often told, 'He was abusive to you, not the children,'" she said. "This bill recognizes that the research already tells us that abuse of a mother is a warning sign of danger to the children."

The other significant change is the expansion of what is considered domestic violence to include "coercive control."

Patricia Madsen, the managing attorney for the family law practice at Community Legal Services, said that is a key part of what is domestic violence.

She said people understand the concept of physical violence.

"But coercive control is that thing that keeps victims and survivors in that relationship," Madsen said. "It cuts off their access to financial ability to leave a situation, isolation from friends and family."

The law took effect in June when it was first signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs. At a ceremonial bill signing Thursday, Hooton said she hopes the legislation, named the Alec and Lydia Act, will make a difference.

"While nothing can take away my pain and nothing can bring them back, this law ensures that their light will never go out," she said.

"Their names and their love and their sweet spirits will live on for generations to come through every child that is saved through the Alec and Lydia Act here in Arizona," Hooton said. "I can make sure that other Arizona families and children are safe and nobody goes through the unimaginable loss of losing children in this way."