It’s back to the drawing board for victims of domestic violence looking for a little peace of mind after NJ Governor Chris Christie recently vetoed a domestic violence bill that would have created an electronic monitoring system for domestic violence offenders in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Lisa’s Law, which was approved unanimously by the NJ Assembly and the NJ Senate in 2015, would have established a pilot program for electronic monitoring of certain individuals in Ocean County, NJ. If the program had proved successful in Ocean County, it may have expanded to other areas throughout the state.

New Jersey lawmakers passed Lisa’s Law because victims of domestic violence haven’t always felt safe in the days and weeks after notifying police about their attackers. The bill was named in honor of one such person: Letizia “Lisa” Zindell, who was brutally attacked and murdered by her ex-fiancé in 2009, just one day after the man was released from jail for violating a restraining order.

In addition to creating an electronic monitoring system to ensure that law enforcement could keep track of the whereabouts of domestic violence offenders, Lisa’s Law also called for a cell phone notification system when an offender got too close to their victim.

The primary sponsors of Lisa’s Law represented parts of Ocean County, Monmouth County, Mercer County, and Burlington County.

When the law was first proposed on the floor of the NJ Assembly, one of the bill’s sponsors called for New Jersey to be “a national leader in protecting women who are victims of domestic violence.” Now it appears that NJ lawmakers, and advocates of domestic violence victims, will have to look elsewhere for protections against domestic violence in New Jersey after Governor Christie rejected the bill for using “significantly limited” technology and potentially giving victims “a false sense of security.”

For further information about Lisa’s Law, go to the Asbury Park Press article, “Gov. Christie Vetoes Domestic Violence Bill.”