Sunday, 16 October 2011
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Topeka, Kansas Votes to Decriminalize Domestic Violence
This post was submitted anonymously.A few days ago the city of Topeka, Kansas voted to decriminalize misdemeanor domestic violence. The reason for this decision was budget cuts. The Topeka city council stated that it simply did not have the funds to prosecute the offenders.
I suppose the reasoning behind the decision is sort of understandable.... or at least it's better than "Them fillies usually have it comin' to 'em anyways".... nevertheless it is disturbing to see the safety of the citizens of Topeka being placed second to political grandstanding during budget negotiations.
Read all about it here: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111012/topeka-decriminalizes-domestic-battery-da-chad-taylor-prosecute
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Comments (62)
I read about this on Facebook the other day. This really makes me mad
Way to go, dumbasses.
The country is going insane under the tea party obstructionists.
Dear Topeka Kansas "officials", I'm 03946730495783409578% sure you could have cut some other bullshit to save for your budget than something that saves lives & punished criminals. I'm looking forward to seeing your population go down because people will GTFO of there.
I don't understand why we need seperate laws for violence? If he punches you in the face it's assault plain and simple the marriage license or other relationship status shouldn't even be an issue. There's no need to have various degrees of laws. We're making things way more complicated than they need to be.
@DivaJyoti@xanga - and the flea party obstructionists.
It's a dumb move, seeing as there is so many other things they could have cut from the budget. I'd simply boycott the city.
Where's Gloria Allred when you need her? Stupid move. Ugh.
@drawmafreezone@xanga - I think the dynamics of domestic violence are very different compared to more straightforward assault cases. For one, you're not likely to be living with the random guy on the street who punches you in the face, nor are you likely to be financially dependent on him. Having separate laws means it could potentially be handled more effectively (not saying it necessarily turns out that way in practice, but in theory you would be able to respond better to those aspects unique to domestic violence).
Seriously, everywhere you look now, women are starting to have their rights stripped (it can also apply if the man is being assaulted in the relationship). Seriously, this really aggravates me to no end.
Why not cut the local politicians paychecks instead? Disgusting.
Shame on them. That's all I have to say. Such a disgrace.
How disgusting.
@Shinbi_Belldandy@xanga - I concur
What a bunch of dumbasses.
Horrible. And men are victims of domestic violence too.
What? The government has an almost infinite capacity to create money. Government debt is not as big an issue as the media makes it out to be, and some economists agree that governments should never consider the budget as being prioritized over public welfare. Granted, excessive leakages due to foreign debts aren't sustainable, and they have to get around to relieving the debt some time, but when that means cutting valuable public services that might put people's lives in danger, there is really no excuse for this shit. I refuse to accept any rationalizations on the matter.
Money over safety - not good.
@DivaJyoti@xanga - i'm pretty sure this isn't a tea party issue. stop generalizing because you hate christian conservatives, jeez.
I was born and live in Topeka. Yeah, it blows it read this.
@shimsham20@xanga - I'm totally sure you are wrong, and how would you know who I supposedly hate? You don't know me at all. Don't address people you don't even know just to be rude. That's just stupid.
@Shinbi_Belldandy@xanga - yeah, who needs fire trucks? we use volunteer firefighters anyway... lets just do bucket lines.
i agree with @just_the_average_jane@xanga for the most part. i don't think there should be separation of applicable laws, merely how it is enacted within the system. a person assaulting their domestic partner is as harmful to society as an angry drunk. public violence, or private, the severity of the act on people creates the same significant level of trauma. if a one person is in a hospital due to their domestic partner's actions, the aggressor should be denied access to the potential plaintiff all the same.
i think if they had to cut something out of the budget... there was probably something easier to cut than basic safety for citizens, but ... there has to be logic there somewhere... maybe the way the laws are set up there, nothing gets fixed, so all the resources are going into repeat offender cases? if the majority of men/women who are victims of this abuse don't leave their circumstances... i could see how the investment is interpreted as fruitless.
@mycontinuity@xanga - just commenting to express gratitude for your comment about all genders/sexes being susceptible to domestic violence. props miss.
This is a step about sixty years backwards. Well done, Kansas.
@just_the_average_jane@xanga - From what I've seen it doesn't work and I've seen far too much of it. I don't think a crime is any more or less heinous because you're living with the man or because you're financially dependant on him. Protecting someone from the same legal consequences of what they've done that other criminals face in order to keep a woman from being forced to learn to take care of herself isn't the answer and too many times that seems to be the unintended result of domestic violence laws. I think that instead of creating special classes of crime we should focus on creating more refuge recovery centers for the victims. The assailant doesn't deserve our time, energy or effort. Slap the assailant into a jail cell just as you would any other criminal and spend all those valuable resources to help the victim learn how to take care of herself. These women don't need to be led to believe by our action or inaction that they're weak, helpless and in need of the care of their abusers they need to be empowered to stand on their own two feet.
The district attorney's office will continue to prosecute the misdemeanor assaults. Isn't that just as good?