Criminal Law Commons^™

Professor Breaks Ground With Journal On Sexual Violence And Exploitation, Joseph Essig, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Uri Professor Launches Online Journal About Sexual Exploitation, Violence, Slavery, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

So Much Activity, So Little Change: A Reply To The Critics Of Battered Women's Self-Defense, Kit Kinports

Kit Kinports

Prior to 1970, the term "domestic violence" referred to ghetto riots and urban terrorism, not the abuse of women by their intimate partners. Today, of course, domestic violence is a household word. After all, it has now been ten years since the revelation of football star O.J. Simpson's history of battering purportedly sounded "a wake-up call for all of America"; ten years since Congress enacted legislation haled as "a milestone . . .truly a turning point in the national effort to break the cycle" of violence; and twenty years since Farrah Fawcett's portrayal of Francine Hughes in the movie The …

Orders Of Protection In Domestic Violence Cases: An Empirical Assessment Of The Impact Of The Reform Statutes, Kit Kinports, Karla Fischer

Kit Kinports

The authors' concern that domestic violence reform statutes might not be having their intended effect sparked their decision to evaluate the protective order statutes empirically. The authors therefore distributed a lengthy survey to 843 domestic violence organizations nationwide that helped battered women obtain protective orders. The survey focused on three issues. The first issue was access to the courts: Is the protective order remedy accessible to battered women? The second issue related to the procedures for obtaining orders of protection: Are judges granting orders in appropriate cases, and are they awarding the full range of remedies contemplated by the reform …

Defending Battered Women's Self-Defense Claims, Kit Kinports

Kit Kinports

This Article contends that many battered women who kill their abusive spouses can legitimately raise the standard self-defense claim. No substantial extension of self-defense doctrine is required to justify the acquittal of battered women on self-defense grounds. Furthermore, no special "battered women defense" is necessary or even desirable in such cases. Part I of this Article summarizes the results of psychological research studying abused women and battering relationships. It further explains the concept of the :battered woman syndrome" which describes the effects of sustained physical and psychological abuse by one's husband. Part II discusses the requirements of a successful self-defense …

From Protection To Punishment: Post-Conviction Barriers To Justice For Domestic Violence Survivor-Defendants In New York State, Tamar Kraft-Stolar, Elizabeth Brundige, Sital Kalantry, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Sital Kalantry

No abstract provided.

Constrained Choice: Mothers, The State, And Domestic Violence, Rona Kaufman Kitchen

Rona Kaufman Kitchen

Mothers who are the victims of domestic violence face unique challenges in their quest for safety. The legal response to domestic violence requires that mothers respond to abuse in specific state-sanctioned manners. However, when mothers respond accordingly, such as by reporting abuse and leaving the abusive relationship, their safety and the safety of their children is not guaranteed. Moreover, by responding in state-sanctioned manners, mothers risk a host of negative consequences including increased threat to their immediate and long-term safety, the loss of their children, undesired financial, health, and social consequences, and criminal prosecution. On the other hand, when mothers …

The Arrest Experiments: A Feminist Critique, Cynthia Grant Bowman

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

Domestic Violence: Does The African Context Demand A Different Approach?, Cynthia Grant Bowman

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

Praxis And Pedagogy: Domestic Violence, Cynthia Grant Bowman, Eden Kusmiersky

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

Domestic Violence And The Politics Of Privacy, By Kristin A. Kelly [Book Review], Cynthia Grant Bowman

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

Join Us On Oct. 14 At Widener Law School For An Important Discussion On Ending Domestic Violence, Linda L. Ammons

Linda L. Ammons

No abstract provided.

Financial Freedom: Women, Money, And Domestic Abuse, Dana Harrington Conner

Dana Harrington Conner

No abstract provided.

Battering The Poor: How Georgia’S Mandatory Family Violence Classes Deny Indigent Defendants Equal Protection Of The Law, Whitney Scherck

Whitney Scherck

Thirty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court in Bearden v. Georgia held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prevents a court from incarcerating an individual for failure to pay a fine unless it first inquires into their reasons for failing to do so and determines that the defendant willfully failed to make bona fide efforts to pay. However, recently, a new kind of legal debt has emerged. As states’ budgets tighten, so-called user fees are becoming an increasingly common way for legislatures to toughen the criminal justice system without having to come up with funding for it. …

The Moral Politics Of Social Control: Political Culture And Ordinary Crime In Cuba, Deborah M. Weissman, Marsha R. Weissman

Deborah M. Weissman

The Cuban revolution has been described as “the longest running social experiment” in history, and one not well-received in the United States. The U.S. government responded to the revolution first with suspicion, and then hostility. Even while the current administration has acknowledged the failure of U.S. policy, few substantive changes have been announced and the narrative of Cuba in the United States continues to dwell almost exclusively on political repression and economic failure. The Cuban revolution, however, is a complex process, one that defies facile explanations. This article subscribes to the perspective offered by social scientists who urge “a more …

Using "A Jury Of Her Peers" To Teach About The Connection Between Domestic Violence And Animal Abuse, Caroline Forell

Caroline A Forell

In this essay I examine Susan Glaspell’s short story, A Jury of Her Peers, in the context of teaching about the connection between domestic violence and animal abuse in an Animal Law course. I discuss how Glaspell’s story, in which the motive for a woman killing her husband is his killing of her pet bird, enables students to better understand the perspective of battered women who behave in certain ways because they have pets. I pose several questions concerning how the law would and should respond when a battered woman reacts with violence to the killing or serious injury of …

The Personal Is Political--And Economic: Rethinking Domestic Violence, Deborah M. Weissman

Deborah M. Weissman

This Article seeks to expand the scope of the domestic violence discourse within the context of the theory and practice of legal strategies. The intent is to shift the analytical parameters beyond the criminal justice system to include the political economy of everyday experiences of households. Such a paradigm shift examines the conditions of the private sphere as a function of the circumstances of public realms. It considers domestic violence by linking it to the structural transformations of the U.S. economy during recent years. It assesses domestic violence from the perspective of the daily life of men and women who …

Toward A Feminist State: What Does Effective Prosecution Of Domestic Violence Mean?, Michelle Dempsey

Michelle Madden Dempsey

This article examines domestic violence criminal prosecutions and addresses what effective prosecutorial action means in such cases. The argument elaborates on a point recently articulated by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, which links effective prosecution of violence against women to the creation of a less patriarchal society. The article concludes that effective prosecution of domestic violence means prosecution which constitutes the State as less patriarchal ceteris paribus

Societal Views And Survivors Of Domestic Violence: Asking The Right Questions, Dana Harrington Conner

Dana Harrington Conner

No abstract provided.

9. Domestic Violence And Child Protection: Confronting The Dilemmas In Moving From Family Court To Dependency Court., Thomas D. Lyon, Mindy B. Mechanic

Thomas D. Lyon

Gender Equality, Social Values And Provocation Law In Australia, Canada And The United States, Caroline A. Forell

Caroline A Forell

This article examines and compares the partial defense of provocation as it applies to domestic homicide in the United States, Canada and Australia.