Hayden Proposes Tougher Laws for Spousal Abuse : Legislation: One bill would prevent batterers from erasing their convictions by undergoing counseling.

Seeking harsher punishment for spousal abuse, state Sen. Tom Hayden on Friday called for new laws that would make it impossible for batterers to clear their criminal records by undergoing counseling.

Hayden (D-Santa Monica) also called for other measures at a news conference, timed to coincide with his introduction of two bills in the Senate this week.

“Hopefully, we will begin to end the double standard that exists in the California justice system between domestic violence and other kinds of violence,” said Hayden, who was joined by Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn and women’s advocate Carolann Peterson.

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Hayden staff members contended that there was no connection between his introduction of spousal abuse legislation and the O.J. Simpson case. But that did not stop him from alluding to the trial at the news conference.

“With all the discussion of domestic violence, we don’t just have to be spectators watching a trial,” Hayden said. “We can address the issue.”

The legislation given the most emphasis Friday was one that would prevent someone who has committed spousal abuse to have the conviction expunged from a criminal record by undergoing counseling. Hayden said these so-called “diversion” programs, started in 1979, were inappropriate to the offense of beating up a spouse.

“The statute is based on the model used for victimless crime, such as substance abuse,” Hayden said.

Hahn said his office had for years refused to accept the use of diversion programs, on the grounds that they did not work. He compared them to traffic schools and gave examples of counseling sessions that had little or no effect.

“The record has shown they have failed to have any impact,” he said.

Hahn said his office refused a diversion program request by Simpson’s lawyer in 1989, after the football great was charged with beating his then-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. Instead, Simpson pleaded no contest to the charge.

Hahn said lawyers and their clients have long complained about the lack of diversion programs in Los Angeles. “Defense attorneys would whine, batterers would whine,” Hahn said. “They’d say, ‘Why can’t I get diversion.’ ”

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Ann Blackshaw, one of Hayden’s staff members, said work on the bills began last summer and that much of the diversion program legislation was based on information contained in a 1990 report by the auditor general of California.

The report found that many who were put in the diversion programs were not complying with the terms set by judges, that counseling sessions were being skipped, and that some counties were granting diversions to those who were not eligible.

Another measure introduced by Hayden would facilitate the serving of restraining orders. Hayden said someone who has been battered now must often serve the restraining order in person. If the legislation passes, restraining orders in domestic violence cases would be served by a law enforcement officer at no cost.

Peterson, a reform advocate, said the bills would create “a criminal record for batterers’ criminal behavior and puts them on notice that such actions will no longer be sanctioned by the judicial system--nor will batterers be allowed to just walk away scot-free.”