Jackson Jambalaya

The Clarion-Ledger reported the legislature changed domestic violence laws:
"Under the new legislation, which was recently signed into law by Gov. Haley Barbour:
A person arrested for violating a domestic abuse order will have to appear before a judge before he can be bailed out of jail. (Woo-hoo, he gets to see a judge THEN he bails out.)
Protections will be extended to victims of stalking and sexual assault who are not in a relationship with their assailant and children who live with the abuser but are not related.
Fees will be assessed to convicted abusers to go toward the Domestic Violence Division of the state attorney general's office and the state's Victims of Domestic Violence Fund. (That will make him think twice before he commits domestic violence.)
New law also clarifies instances when officers must file a complaint on behalf of a victim who is afraid to go forward with charges.
Most of the new laws go into effect July 1."
Article

Looks like a lot but most of these changes amount to nothing. However, that didn't stop Mazie Smith, policy coordinator for the Mississippi Domestic Violence Coalition, lapping up any crumb the good ole boys threw her from the table:
"Smith said the most important thing is for victims to feel safe coming forward to report the crimes, rather than waiting until it's too late."

Ms. Smith has it completely wrong as the most important thing for victims is to start locking these guys up and closing the loopholes. Did it ever occur to her the reason why women don't come forward to report domestic violence is because too often the abusers are set free by the judges to come back home to terrorize their families again? More victims would feel safer if they knew they could count on the criminal justice system to lock up the wife-beaters.

While any improvement to domestic violence laws are welcome, these new laws are almost a joke. In an earlier post, I spelled out exactly how the laws could be changed to help stop domestic violence:

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. In reality, 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 Divorce and domestic violence in Mississippi, a man beat his pregnant 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 abused him? Do all battered families some good and close this loophole.

2. MAKE POLICE REPORTS INCLUDE A NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION AND MAKE THEM AVAILABLE WITHIN THREE BUSINESS DAYS!!! 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 at the time in order to protect the children from such a violent person. Even now, most agencies will make the potential victim wait three weeks until they respond to the request. 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

If I sound angry I am. What the legislature and Ms. Smith served up to us was garbage passed off as a souffle. These changes do almost nothing for domestic violence victims. Instead of enacting these cosmetic changes, the legislature should change the laws so these scumbags are thrown in jail and kept in jail away from their victims after they are convicted. The new laws ultimately do nothing to protect a victim after the initial arrest and release. If Ms. Smith wants to truly help victims, she should take a stronger stand in pushing for changes instead of being the lapdog happy for any bone thrown her way. Start actually prosecuting the wife-beaters and locking them up will make women feel much safer then any catch and release program.

Note: This is a report issued by a commission empaneled to examine Missisppi's Domestic Violence laws on which these new enactments are based. Needless to say, all it focuses on is making it easier to file charges, more funding, and improving protective orders. It does not even address the loopholes in the laws outlined above or deal with nutjobs who ignore protective orders. Report

Earlier post on Clarion-Ledger domestic violence jellotorial