Domestic violence advocate arrested in family fight

Submitted by Mastodon on Mon, 2013-08-26 00:58

Story here. Excerpt:

'BRIDGEPORT -- A law and order state representative from Fairfield was ordered to turn over her gun Monday following her arrest on charges of assaulting her younger sister.

State Rep. Brenda Kupchick, who has supported tougher treatment for domestic violence defendants, had nothing to say following her arraignment in the Golden Hill Street courthouse on third-degree assault and disorderly conduct charges.
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As uncomfortable as Kupchick seemed in the courtroom, many of the court staff seemed equally uncomfortable to have her there because of her support on the same laws she is now accused of breaking. For the last half a dozen years she has worked closely with the regional Center for Women and Families, which counsels victims of domestic abuse.

Standing before Superior Court Judge John Cronan, Kupchick admitted she recently got a gun and has a temporary permit for it. The judge ordered her to turn it over to police.

Cronan also ordered Kupchick to stay away from her sister, 42-year-old Lisa Fabrizi, who was charged with disorderly conduct in the incident.
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Police sources quoted Kupchick family friends as saying Kupchick, a second term Republican legislator representing the 132nd District and her sister had recently been having contentious relationship possibly regarding a third person. No other details were available.'

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Really? So, you're a DV laws advocate, all about no-excuses enforcement, no-discretion policies. Anyone related by blood or marriage or informally by sharing of domicile, romantically or not: any act of violence at all, however defined, warrants arrest-- no discretion allowed to police.

So, you and your sis argue about something, maybe someone. Being you are siblings, you probably despise each other, but just don't say it. Instead, you *act* like there's real affection between you. But, there isn't. It's a show. (Well, I could be utterly wrong in this particular case; you may not despise your sister. You may love her oodles. Just, most sibs really hate each other but put on a show for some reason.) Anyway, it doesn't take much to show your true colors-- a mere disagreement. Did you have lowered inhibitions due to a glass of wine, perhaps? Maybe it wasn't you, maybe it was sis who'd had a couple and you were as dry as a camel in summer. Or maybe both of you were stone sober. Who knows. Doesn't really matter. You lost your self-control and gave in to your violent urges for what, maybe one, two seconds? That's all it takes. Result: a simple asssult. Perhaps in times past, you would have stopped after you struck out, gotten your wits about you, and apologized, perhaps just leaving the scene and patch things up with the sister you despise later. (Why people put on such pretenses, I dunno. But I suppose not all sibs despise each other. It's just so much more typical than sibs not despising each other that the opposite is positively exceptional.)

But because of the laws that you yourself helped enshrine, well, there'll be no common-sense resolution to your "family matter". Now, everyone's in on it: the media, the courts, the public. And no, as the hard-and-fast, no-excuses advocate you've been, you can hardly ask for leniency, now can you?

Or maybe you can. I suppose you can try. You're female, after all, you may even despite your history as a zealous advocate for aggressive DV prosecution, get a major break for having a vagina. But the assault victim was in this case another female, so you might not. Just have to see.

So how does it feel?

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Submitted by Matt on Mon, 2013-08-26 03:36