AUGUSTA, Maine —

Maine courts setting sentences for those convicted of murder will start considering if the victim had also been subjected to domestic violence.

A new law directs courts to weigh whether the victim was a family or household member who had also experienced domestic violence at the convicted person’s hands.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage, himself a survivor of domestic abuse a child, signed Democratic Sen. Troy Jackson’s bill into law this month.

The law will become effective three months from the day lawmakers return to Augusta to consider LePage’s vetoes.

Current law already allows courts setting sentences for murder to consider whether the victim was a child under six or a woman known to be pregnant.