Despite an increasing family violence caseload statewide, there remains a wide disparity in the way state courts handle these cases, from pushing defendants to go through intense programs under the threat of jail to going little beyond the standard prosecution.
The Tracey Thurman Law of 1986 made arrests mandatory in domestic violence cases, but the landmark legislation didn't mandate the way courts should handle the resulting cases. Today, while strides have been made with special family violence dockets in nine of the 20 lower-level courthouses, there is little uniformity in approaches and outcomes.
Continue reading Josh Kovner's story from Sunday's Courant: "Separate, Unequal"
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The story generated lots of comments from readers. Here is a sampling:
"I am happy to see domestic violence on the front page of the Courant. I am happy to hear there are special courts and prosecutors assigned to it alone. It is a scourge on society, and a cycle that will continue from generation to generation without some drastic intervention. I would like to see, though, some light on the emotional, and verbal, abuse that generally precedes and accompanies domestic violence. Victims of emotional abuse live their lives in fear and intimidation. They listen to a never-ending stream of belittling, berating, blame, name-calling. The very core of the victim is attacked. The way you walk, or talk, the way you perform sexually, the way you look, and parent..." -debsfree
"My toddler years were spent watching my parents in in physical fights. No matter how many times the cops were called nothing changed until he left my life forever (I loved him anyway). It permanently affected me and ruined my family..." -jennyct100
"The final sentence gets me the most. And in fact, the entire article angers me. Think about this article as a taxpayer..." -unassigned44
"Reading some of these comments convinces me that we must invest even more in holding abusers accountable. Accountable doesn't mean throwing everyone in jail, and it doesn't mean a slap on the wrist. It means weighing every situation, taking into account history, severity and lethality...." -d/vcop
In Britain we are lucky to have specialised domestic violence courts that run on set days of the week. In Britain, magistrates and court clerks have undertaken special training programmes and the prosecution service have a positive approach to the case, so if the woman retracts her statement - the case may still go ahead. I honestly beleive that this system has saved many women's lives!