Lawmaker calls for increased minimum sentence for stalkers

Victims gave the Senate Judiciary Committee tearful testimony on Wednesday, saying stalkers harass them for years, sometimes even contacting them from prison.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said her Assembly Bill 363 would give judges the flexibility to sentence stalkers to prison for up to 20 years in extreme cases.

But Senate Judiciary Chairman Mark James, R-Las Vegas, said the one- to 20-year prison sentence is out of line with Nevada's other sentencing laws. He pointed out that the sentence for voluntary manslaughter is shorter than that.

"If you actually kill someone, it's one to 10 years," James said.

Las Vegas prosecutor Abby Silver, who worked on the Lewis case, told lawmakers the 20-year sentence was appropriate in a handful of cases.

"I don't think these people have any respect for the law, from what I've seen, because they keep stalking," she said.

While the committee did not take a vote on amending the bill, James suggested a two- to 15-year prison sentence.

There are 23 people in Nevada prisons for stalking. That includes the man who terrorized Lewis and his family before he was sent to prison for aggravated stalking.

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