How is criminal justice system dealing with Domestic Violence?
Lawrence Journal-World has an analysis this week on the difficulties faced in prosecuting domestic violence cases. It showcases some specific domestic violence incidents to demonstrate how charges in these cases are frequently dropped. The report discusses how recent crimes in the area, including a beating that led to the death of a repeat victim, have raised questions about how well the criminal justice system deals with domestic violence.
“Partly because of the unique nature of the crime, prosecutors acknowledge charges are dropped much more frequently in domestic cases than in other crimes. Factors driving that include the back-and-forth nature of relationships, the potential for intimidation of the victim and a law that requires police to make arrests whether the case is ultimately strong enough to prosecute or not.”
A federal law 1994 Violence Against Women Act brought about changes to the ways domestic battery cases were handled by the courts. It enabled formation of protection-from-abuse orders that could be enforced across state lines, released more money for police training and support for prosecutors’ offices in handling domestic-violence cases.
But even as the law requires police to make an arrest if they find evidence of domestic violence upon their arrival, the result of the cases vary depending on the what follows in the courtrooms which have been described as not very adept at handling such cases.
There is largely a vague understanding among attorneys and judges who still view domestic battery as an interpersonal problem instead of a crime, thus leading the cases to nowhere.
ABC News has a news story following the murder of a Lawrence-area woman by her boyfriend. (Please click the link to watch the video)
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