The daughter of Rosemarie L. D’Alessandro of Hillsdale never returned home after leaving on a spring day in 1973 to deliver Girl Scout cookies. The body of seven-year-old Joan, who had been raped and murdered, was found in a park in upstate New York. Although the killer was convicted and sentenced, New Jersey’s law allowed the possibility of parole. Because of Florence D’Alessandro’s efforts, there are now state and federal laws to ensure criminals who murder during the commission of a sex crime are kept behind bars and that victims’ families do not face time limits to bring civil suits against the offenders.

Update:  11/9/2002   After seven years of advocacy, the efforts of Hillsdale’s Rosemarie D’Alessandro have paid off in Trenton. Gov. Chris Christie signed Joan’s Bill into law on Friday, July 21. Joan’s Law states that a person convicted of the murder of a minor under the age of 18 in the course of the commission of a sex crime will serve life imprisonment without the option of parole. An initial version of Joan’s Law was signed in 1997 by Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. This version had a tighter scope, mandating life in prison for those who molest and murder children under age 14. New York adopted Joan’s Law in 2004, and a federal version was signed by President Bill Clinton.