Advocates Furious After Topeka, County DA Refuse to Prosecute Domestic Violence Cases

[proud2BlibKansan]

TOPEKA, Kan.— Domestic abuse advocates in Topeka are outraged after the Shawnee County District Attorney's Office said that they will no longer be prosecuting domestic violence cases, and now the city of Topeka is talking about repealing its anti-domestic violence law.

Shawnee County prosecutors, dealing with a 10 percent budget cut, told city officials that they will no longer prosecute misdemeanor cases, including domestic violence. The move has left domestic violence victim's advocate Claudine Dombrowski furious, saying that the move leaves victim caught in the middle.

"It's appalling, it's disgusting," said Dombrowski. "A week after this started there were over 30 cases that had been dismissed because the county dropped it on the city, and the city says we can't do it."

Dombrowski says that she was the victim in a "misdemeanor" domestic abuse case 16 years ago - a crowbar strike to the head left her with 24 stitches and two broken wrists. Now, she worries that nothing is being done to protect victims.

more . . . http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-advocates-furious-after-topeka-county-da-refuse-to-prosecute-domestic-violence-cases-20110929,0,335903.story

Life in red state hell.

[patrice]

1. There are no words for this. It is beyond comprehension. The OFFICE OF THE REPEALER at "work".

[CrispyQ]

2. So we're on the road to accepting domestic violence so a few rich assholes

can buy another jet or vacation home or both.

I'm gonna be sick.

[patrice]

3. In Brownbackistan EVERYTHING is about Roe v. Wade, so women will be brutalized & some will die

in order for Subsidy Sam to make a political point about government's power to rule women's bodies.

[CrispyQ]

13. I read "A Handmaid's Tale" in my twenties & was horrified, but also confident

that I would never live in a society like that. So tragic, where we are.

[patrice]

16. I want abortion to be as rare as possible, but the TRUTH is the best way for that to happen is for

women to rule their own bodies, not the church-state.

One has no right to one's own moral authority if that same right is not yielded to others.

We live in a pro-Death culture; this means that a woman's right to choose reproductive services can be a service to Life much more than so-called Pro-Life values are.

The best mothers are free women, free in every way possible: fully educated, empowered, wage parity, able to marry whom they choose, full health care, civil liberties, en-voiced with a free media . . . .

[lbrtbell]

5. Republicans hate women

That's all you need to know.

[patrice]

4. Whose bodies? OUR!!! bodies!!!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[Lyric]

6. Make domestic violence a felony, then.

Watch how fast the rate of spousal abuse would drop if these abusive shits were at risk of losing their firearm privileges and having a felony record.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. I believe it was but they changed it to save money

[Lyric]

8. If it was, then it was one of the scant handful of local governments that made it so.

Domestic assault is, almost universally across the nation, "just" a misdemeanor. It's sickening.

[uppityperson]

9. Changed to misdemeanor to save money, and now won't prosecute misdemeanors?

I am stuck here with what to say. What can we do? serious question.

[hfojvt]

14. is there some difference between misdemeanor domestic violence

and other cases. Hitting somebody with a crowbar can't be a misdemeanor, can it? But in Wisconsin, that I know of, there are arrests made whenever there is a fight between a couple. If the police get called, then they have to arrest somebody, but it is not necessarily a serious incident. I know of one couple that had a screaming fight because she was really mad at him, probably assaulting him. He didn't want her to goto jail, so he convinced the police to arrest him, because she had young kids to take care of.

Another co-worker got arrested because his wife/live-in took his keys and locked herself in the bedroom, so he broke down the door, got his keys and went to work. Nobody got hurt but a door, and I don't see him as the one at fault (if, of course, that is what actually happened, and not just the way he told it).

I am not sure that every such arrest should be a felony. Particularly since the typical punishments - fines or prison, don't really solve anything.

[yardwork]

11. Good idea. Tie it to gun ownership and watch the abusers suddenly learn to control themselves.

Meanwhile, a 12 year old child may spend the rest of his life in jail in Florida.

[Xithras]

21. It already is, and it hasn't changed a thing.

Federal law prohibits people from purchasing or owning firearms if they have been convicted of domestic violence, even with misdemeanor charges. The law has done little to change anything.

[yardwork]

22. Really? I was not aware of that.

[Xithras]

25. Yep, since 1997

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_Violence_Offender_Gun_Ban

Anyone convicted of ANY domestic violence crimes, or who are currently under a restraining order for a domestic violence related crime, will fail a NICS check. More importantly, if they're caught with them, they can be charged with a criminal offense. When this passed, it resulted in a number of police officers and others losing their jobs, because they had previous misdemeanor domestic violence convictions and were no longer legally able to carry weapons.

Once convicted, you can only get your guns back if you go back to court and can convince a judge to expunge your record. That's an exceedingly difficult thing to do.

[yardwork]

10. So....abortion is murder, but it's ok to beat and kill children after they're born.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Hey, it's Kansas

[patrice]

17. Brownback wasn't kidding c/ "Jesus plus nothing" we REALLY do have an Office of the Repealer.

[JVS]

12. Can/would such cases be prosecuted as normal assault or battery?

[Xithras]

20. Yes, if they rise to the level of a felony

That's always been an option with domestic violence anyway. If one spouse assaults the other, they can be prosecuted under DV laws or conventional assault laws. Of course, if they're not prosecuting any misdemeanors, that means misdemeanor assault charges also won't be prosecuted. Slaps and strikes that leave no damage won't be prosecuted, and neither will property damage. Only assaults that result in injuries or which use weapons can be prosecuted.

The person quoted in the article, who was struck with a crowbar, would still be covered. In that case, instead of dusing domestic violence laws, they would simply charge the person with felony aggravated assault.

[toddwv]

18. I'll bet that they call out all their squad cars anytime somebody smokes a joint.

Now there's a REAL crime against society!

Seriously, wtf happened to our legal system?

[Capitalocracy]

19. Good question. nt

[WinkyDink]

23. Hey! Kim Kardashian Humphries just bought a $244K Ferrari! Who cares if towns are bankrupted??

[pipi_k]

24. I think the article is trying to make it sound like

ALL domestic violence cases are "misdemeanors".

They are not.

A person can get arrested for the slightest mark on his/her domestic partner, but that doesn't mean it's a felony.

Sounds to me like they are refusing to prosecute domestic violence cases where one or the other (or both) inflicted very minor injuries on the other.

The article doesn't say that more serious cases (felony assault/battery) will not be prosecuted.