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This Week, We FLOOD Capitol Hill with Calls and Faxes
Must- and pro-arrest policies: Twenty-two jurisdictions
have mandatory arrest laws for DV cases, and 8 others strongly
encourage arrest. And 33 states mandate arrest if a restraining order
has been violated, even for the smallest technicality.
Primary aggressor laws: Worse, 24 states have laws on
the books that discourage dual arrests, and instead rely on a “primary
aggressor” assessment which amounts to blatant gender profiling and the inevitable arrest of the man.
No-drop prosecution: any jurisdictions require
prosecution of the case, even if the woman withdraws her complaint. In
some cases, prosecutors have coerced a woman into testifying against
her will by threatening to have the state take custody of her children
if she refuses to testify.
Discrimination against male victims: It is estimated
that only 1-5% of victims served by VAWA programs are males. Worse, in
many cases when a man does reach out for help, he finds himself accused of the very crime to which he has become the unwitting victim.
This week, RADAR releases its fifth Special Report, “Bias in the
Judiciary: The Case of Domestic Violence.” The report reveals how
judicial education programs openly tell judges to disregard men’s civil rights, and shows how fast-track prosecution programs operate on the principle, "guilty with no opportunity to prove otherwise."
The report can be viewed at:
http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/Bias-In-The-Judiciary.pdf
VAWA, and the 600-odd state laws it has engendered, is the product
of a poisonous gender ideology that claims domestic violence is a tool
of patriarchal dominance. But its real target is not just men, because
many women also have become caught up in VAWA’s law enforcement abuses.
The real target of VAWA is the family. Why? Because every instance
of marital discord – a shove, a thrown object, even a sharp word – is
now subject to state intervention and criminalization of the alleged
perpetrator. The family unit cannot withstand this assault for much
longer.
It is time to cast political correctness and complacency aside.
WE WANT CONGRESS TO CONDUCT HEARINGS ON THE MASSIVE CIVIL
RIGHTS ABUSES OF VAWA. AND WE WANT THE HEARINGS NOW.
Telephone or fax these Chairmen:
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Voice phone: |
Fax: |
Congressman Steve Chabot, Chairman
House Constitutional Subcommittee |
202-225-2216 |
202-225-3012 |
Sen Sam Brownback, Kansas, Chairman
Senate Constitutional Subcommittee |
202-224-6521 |
202-228-1265 |
Be polite, yet firm in your request.
Your telephone call or fax will help stop the VAWA assault on
families.
Date of RADAR Release: April 16, 2006
R.A.D.A.R. – Respecting Accuracy in Domestic
Abuse Reporting – is a network of concerned
men and women working to assure that the problem of
domestic violence is treated in a balanced and
effective manner. http://www.mediaradar.org/.
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