Something unusual in the Yale Law Journal: an article that takes a not entirely enthusiastic view of the continued spread of domestic restraining orders. Under such orders (some earlier posts) allegations of spousal abuse, whether or not eventually proven at trial and whether or not withdrawn by the accuser, can trigger highly burdensome sanctions against the accused spouse, including a prohibition on entering his or her own home. Harvard Law assistant professor Jeannie Suk says the process can amount to “de facto state-imposed divorce” and greatly increases the power of the state to reach into and reorder family life, sometimes against the will of both parties. (“Criminal Law Comes Home”, Oct., abstract leads to PDF of full version)(via Pattis). In response, a second law professor argues that current legal trends appropriately treat alleged domestic violence as a crime against the state and not just against the nominal victim, and that it is wrong to place too much emphasis on accusers’ supposed right to forgive abusive conduct (Cheryl Hanna, “Because Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, The Pocket Part, Oct. 12)(& welcome Ron Coleman/Dean Esmay readers).
“Criminal law comes home”
Something unusual in the Yale Law Journal: an article that takes a not entirely enthusiastic view of the continued spread of domestic restraining orders. Under such orders (some earlier posts) allegations of spousal abuse, whether or not eventually proven at trial and whether or not withdrawn by the accuser, can trigger highly burdensome sanctions against […]
4 Comments
I tried to file a restraining order (California) against a former employee after receiving death threats. I was informed that receiving death threats is not sufficient cause for a retraining order unless it is against a woman from here boyfriend/husband. I was informed for a about $1000 I could file a civil type of complaint and maybe the police would show up if they were not too busy if I called them. I figured it was far cheaper and more effective just to buy a gun.
As a domestic violence prosecutor in a Georgia D.A.’s office, I tried a number of these cases. They present extremely difficult policy issues. As politically incorrect as it is to say, many women file charges against boyfriends/spouses on a routine basis, and then recant the charges when the cases come to trial. Some of the alleged perpetrators are really guilty, and very large percentage (though not majority) are not guilty of anything except making the woman in their life angry. One way or another, repeated charges of domestic violence bring the police into serial danger when they respond to serial 911 calls from the real or purported victims.
The fact is, domestic violence does lead to serious social harm and the state has an interest in seeing that children are no exposed to possible injury or emotional violence (and as overused as that term is, seeing one’s mother, e.g., raped with a broomstick, is extraordinarily damaging). Thankfully, some prosecutors are beginning to charge the victims who change their stories with false report of a crime, and this may eventually start to weed out the truthful accusations from the false ones.
One way or another, however, it is undeniable that these prosecutions do bring the state increasingly into a sphere of life that was once considered private. For anybody who hits another, prosecution is warranted. The real problem, of course, is that women are no longer taught to use discretion in deciding with whom to live and mate (and same goes for men), so as usual the govt. now steps in to try to address a problem that is cannot possibly “solve” on a large scale.
And a discrete related scandal involves domestic violence counseling, which is often the sentence for an offender. There is no correlation between participation in counseling and recidivism, and even the specialists who actually work with victims (as opposed to “academicians”) will admit that counseling is a farce and only enriches those social workers who make a living from govt. employment. But the joke will continue, because it is political suicide for anybody to challenge the feminist establishment that tends to operate the “official” counseling centers.
PFM
Your words are so very true…. and these “Thankfully, some prosecutors are beginning to charge the victims who change their stories with false report of a crime, and this may eventually start to weed out the truthful accusations from the false ones.”
The decision should be mandatory for such charges to be filed! and Prosecuted!
As a society we let women walk away unscathed after destroying a man! THAT MUST STOP!!!
False rape claim? she is the one that should go and do the same time as if she were a man and had actually performed the acts contained in the accusation!
You are right, TC. And indeed, it can destroy a man (or, on the rare occasions where the roles are reversed, a woman). The whole thing has turned into a lucrative racket for the counseling agencies.