Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Breaking News: The Price Of Beating A Woman Part II

The New York Times caught wind of the situation in Topeka and weighed in. 

City leaders had blamed the Shawnee County district attorney for handing off such cases to the city without warning. The district attorney, in turn, said he was forced to not prosecute any misdemeanors and to focus on felonies because the County Commission cut his budget. And county leaders accused the district attorney of using abused women as pawns to negotiate more money for his office.

After both sides dug in, the dispute came to a head Tuesday night.

By a vote of 7 to 3, the City Council repealed the local law that makes domestic violence a crime.

So, as a Twitter follower pointed out, it's time to call this what it is and stop using safe terms to dodge the reality.  Please allow me to say this is giving permission to beat the shit out of women without consequences.  How's that for direct?  Men who have a history of beating women, or men smart enough to be deterred by criminal consequences now have full permission to assault women because there will be no outcome from it.

Not enough money to prosecute is no reason to repeal the law.  That isn't saying they will improve or pool resources.  That says tough luck, get your ass beat in Wichita if you want some justice.  Our exectation of safety transcends budgets and finger pointing.  If a man assaults a man, he'll still face criminal consequences. 

We talk about class warfare, and it is usually viewed in terms of economic standing or perhaps minority association.  Women make up slightly more than half of the world's population, how is it that we are consistently paid less, treated worse, and in this case sacrificed to criminals to help make a budget? 

If your bullshit-o-meter isn't going off like mad, you're missing something.

No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails