S.F.'s political correctness takes Mirkarimi prisoner

Submitted by anthony on Sun, 2012-04-29 13:49

Article here. Excerpt:

'For those of you who missed it, on New Year's Eve, Mirkarimi and his wife, Eliana Lopez, got in a fight. He grabbed her arm and bruised it. Lopez complained to a neighbor, who videotaped her. Days later, the neighbor contacted police.

The episode unleashed the hounds of political correctness in San Francisco. Domestic violence advocates saw an opportunity to strike a blow for female empowerment. San Francisco police and City Hall didn't want to appear soft on domestic abuse by an elected official. A city that doesn't let government into the bedroom watched, even applauded, as the criminal justice system divided a family that wanted to stay together.
...
The whole setup is "designed to break you along the way," Mirkarimi told me. Until he fights back and wins, he has lost the elective office he worked hard to win. The courts won't let him talk to his wife, who - this is ironic, as her declared wish to visit her native Venezuela with her son started the fight - took their son to Venezuela while she visits her sick father. When she returns in June, they will have been apart for five months and still will not be able to talk to each other.'

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Comments

In showing this piece, I am not condoning the sheriff's behavior. He should not have grabbed his wife like that. There's no place in relationships for that kind of behavior, or indeed, anywhere else (obvious exception being the need to use force to make lawful arrests-- which he was not doing). What is wrong here is when a large "SYSTEM" immediately takes over any and all efforts to deal with the situation against the will of those involved. Perhaps what the sheriff needed was relationship training and counseling so that he can be instructed on what not to do in relationships. That's first time for a lower offense. Next time, he should then be facing serious legal ramifications. DV is never condonable. But neither is a knee-jerk extreme response to isolated episodes of mild DV-- let the punishment fit the crime, especially when the perp realizes his mistake and takes steps to never behave that way again.

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Submitted by Matt on Sun, 2012-04-29 17:41

Of course, a woman who bruised her husband's arm in this fashion would never face such severe legal consequences, either.

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Submitted by xtrnl on Sun, 2012-04-29 20:06