With conviction and a strong will, Ashlee Newman pushed her mind past the torturing, unsettling feelings of her cousin’s murder last December.

She asked what she could to do to stop what she calls a senseless act of domestic abuse from happening to anyone else.

“I kind of took it upon myself,” Newman said. “People were like, ‘There has to be a Heather’s Law.’”

The same night Newman went home to Colts Neck, N.J., for Winter Break her freshman year, her cousin, Heather Trapp, was found dead in an Old Bridge, N.J., home. Trapp was stabbed more than 20 times by her ex-husband Anthony Trapp, according to an article published in New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger on April 8.

During the last nine months, Newman, a sophomore political science major, has advanced discussions about preventing domestic abuse.

Newman wanted a law that would prevent what happened to her cousin from happening to anyone else.

Through an independent study with William Coplin, a public affairs professor, Newman researched policies, interviewed experts and formed her own goals. She documented events leading up to her cousin’s murder and supplied the information to New Jersey state politicians.

Last week, she took part in a press conference at the New Jersey State House to generate support for it, speaking alongside state senators Barbara Buono and Linda Greenstein.

“With my family overwhelmed with grief and horror, I knew being the determined person I am, I could not let the time go by without taking action,” Newman said.

Senate bill 331, if passed, will permit GPS trackers to be placed on domestic abuse offenders who have a permanent restraining order granted against them. An amendment will name it Heather’s Law.

Trapp was failed by the justice system before being killed by her ex-husband in December. Trapp had two restraining orders dismissed before she was murdered, Newman said.

“Even though it wouldn’t have saved my cousin’s life because my cousin’s restraining orders were denied, it’s trying to protect the victim,” Newman said. “And that’s a key I think is missing in the state of New Jersey.”

One year ago, Newman was simply a freshman taking her first semester of classes at SU. She was in Coplin’s PAF 101: “An Introduction to the Analysis of Public Policy” and his honors discussion class. Many of the terms taught in that introductory class are ones Newman still uses today. There, Coplin taught how policies are created.

But, at the time, it was just another class to Newman.

“He wasn’t very fond of me, like, I didn’t take a particular interest in the class,” Newman said. “I wasn’t very fond of him, he knows all this; I really couldn’t wait to be done with the class.

“But there was just this connection right after it happened,” she added.

Newman heard people say that there needed to be a law in Trapp’s honor. Almost instantly, she reached out to Coplin.

He responded immediately.

“I told her, ‘OK, you can. You can do this,’” Coplin said. “‘First of all, you have to get information on what the details are, and you need to talk to a lot of people and do research.’ And she did a lot.”

Research meant analyzing all angles of domestic abuse, both specific to her cousin’s case and in general in order to find her true goal. She spoke with directors at Syracuse-area advocacy nonprofits, including Vera House and Chadwick House. She analyzed what the SU Advocacy Center and the Department of Public Safety do to combat domestic abuse.

She created The Justice for Heather Coalition on Facebook, which was her way of centralizing the discussion for those who knew her cousin and wanted to see something happen legislatively.

The group now has more than 1,000 subscribers.

“She did a fantastic job,” Coplin said. “I think she’s actually surprised how far it’s gone, and she’s more or less an expert now on domestic violence policy.”

To help create Heather’s Law, state senators asked Newman to submit something to them that gave the gist of Trapp’s case. Newman spoke to family members, did additional research and submitted a detailed document that she said is 6-8 pages in length.

Buono, the New Jersey state senator, sent it to be analyzed in the legislature and came back to Newman with a few domestic violence bills already drafted.

Newman thought Senate bill 331 fit Heather’s Law best.

Newman continued her work into the summer by attending the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Denver. Her trip was sponsored by SU’s Renee Crown University Honors Program, of which Newman is a member.

Newman said she plans to complete her final Capstone Project by doing a comparative domestic violence study, looking at policies and statistics around the world.

Honors students do not normally think about their Capstone Project until they are juniors, but Newman already has hers figured out.

“When they’re able to invest early enough, the students can often develop wonderful projects,” said Eric Holzwarth, deputy director of the honors program.

Upon concluding her research, Newman was able to pinpoint the specific problems in Trapp’s case that could have been prevented by the law. Newman mingled with state senators after she spoke at the press conference in New Jersey last week and called upon the state to follow domestic violence models of other, more progressive states.

She pushed the idea of a 48-hour follow-up law, which would require police to check in at houses where there was a domestic complaint 48 hours after it happened. She said this law already exists in other states.

Newman is currently working with Sen. Linda Greenstein on the 48-hour follow-up law and said Greenstein seems interested.

While she does not want to go into advocacy as a career, instead preferring corporate law, Newman said she imagines she will always be involved philanthropically. Though working toward Heather’s Law has inspired Newman to pursue future projects, she said it’s not about her; it’s about Heather.

Said Newman: “It’s honoring her memory and it’s getting the idea of protecting the victim out there. I worked really hard but it’s really for all of my family and I know that it’s a way for everyone else to cope. So it’s been amazing.”

Published on September 20, 2012 at 3:44 am

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr