NJ May Have Domestic Violence Offender Registry [AUDIO]

If there was a registry just like Megan's Law that was dedicated solely to identifying those convicted of domestic violence offenses, would you check it out before you went on a first date with someone?

Most people would. If one New Jersey legislator has his way, there would be just such a website.

"Right now, Megan's Law is a registry so that somebody could look up whether somebody's a sex offender," explained Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer/Hunterdon). "My bill would create a registry that would put the world on notice that a person has been involved in a domestic violence incident."

Police and prosecutors have access to records that would reveal if someone has been convicted of one or more domestic violence offenses, but that information isn't available to the public. Gusciora thinks it should be.

"Often times you'll see from the private records that they've had domestic violence of one girlfriend after another," said Gusciora who is also a prosecutor. "My bill would create a new registry so that potential new dates would know if this person had committed domestic violence in the past."

The legislation is still being drafted so that it meets constitutional muster. Gusciora said he hopes to formally introduce it very soon, possibly as early as today.