Jackson Jambalaya

Once again Domestic violence is discussed in the media and as usual, the reporters and the legislators miss it. They focus on minor issues such as restraining orders, which are not worth the paper they are printed on. If there is going to be a serious discussion on strengthening domestic violence laws in Mississippi, here is a repost of something I wrote earlier:

1. Change the loophole in the law that allows a judge to suspend a sentence in exchange for "counseling". The law states: "Every conviction of domestic violence may require as a condition of any suspended sentence that the defendant participate in counseling or treatment to bring about the cessation of domestic abuse. The defendant may be required to pay all or part of the cost of the counseling or treatment, in the discretion of the court. " Section 97-3-7(6) of the Mississippi Code. http://www.mscode.com/free/statutes/97/003/0007.htm In reality what happens is too many judges use this loophole to let someone off of the hook who has beaten his wife or children. For example, in the earlier post http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/09/domestic-violence-and-divorce-in.html, a man beat his ex-wife in Rankin County. This was his second arrest for domestic violence with a different wife. He completed his anger management class and voila, he was back home. Did I mention he later lost his visitation rights to his child after he assaulted him?Do all battered families some good and close this loophole. The legislature will soon be in session and will have an excellent opportunity to actually do something about domestic violence.

2. MAKE POLICE REPORTS PUBLIC!!! How many crimes of domestic violence would be avoided if women had the ability to see if someone they were thinking of marrying or dating had ever been arrested for domestic violence or other crimes for that matter? Many states such as Louisiana make police reports available for a small fee. It's time Mississippi followed suit and allowed for police reports to be made public. In the above example, the wife-beater coached soccer for small kids after TWO arrests for beating different wives. There was no way to obtain a copy of the police report in order to protect the children from such a violent person. Although each agency can release the reports, most choose not to do so. However, don't worry. They'll tell you they take domestic violence seriously even while they cover up for the wife beater.

3. Set up as part of the continuing education for judges visits to battered women's shelters (not in their jurisdictions) so that they can better see how serious a crime domestic violence really is. Including Sheriffs and Chiefs in such a program probably is not a bad idea. If possible (and make it volunteer only for the victims), arrange for discussions on such tours.

4. Upgrade Simple Domestic Assault from a misdemeanor to a felony. One observation made about the Spencer case was SDA was the only charge that allowed the police to pursue the complaint against George Bell, III without the victim's consent. The problem is, that charge is a misdemeanor. A thug can take a baseball bat, beat his wife within an inch of her life, then face only a misdemeanor charge after somehow pressuring her to drop the charges. Since current laws are clearly not working, it is time to change the rules and make Simple Domestic Violence a felony. See http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/09/jpd-and-heather-spencer.html

http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-long-must-we-read-news-every-day.html