this is shocking and unbelievable

what? that domestic violence happens? HELL NO. it happens in poor homes, in rich homes. in amish homes, in hindu homes, in white homes, in asian homes, in homes where there are kids and homes where there are no kids. most of the time it happens to women, but it does happen to men as well. it happens MOST of the time behind closed doors although sometimes right out in the open. so why am i shocked? this article states THERE IS AN AVERAGE OF A 20% CONVICTION RATE. what? 20% conviction rate? that is sick-making. that is a crime in itself.

are we not worth protecting? are we not taking domestic violence seriously? (the answers to those two questions is no and no obviously)

it's a crime stemming from insecurity. the abusers want POWER and CONTROL. a 2 day stay in the slammer isn't going to 'cure' that (and neither is a forced enrollment in some half-assed class by the way).

how many murders or near murders stemming from domestic violence have happened in connecticut of late? think about it


Courts In Connecticut Vary Widely On Handling Increasing Number Of Domestic Violence Cases

By JOSH KOVNER The Hartford Courant
BRIDGEPORT — - Jaime Acosta, with a two-year jail term hanging over his head for a domestic violence offense, squirms as he stands before Judge Maria Kahn in Superior Court.

He's in the crowded family violence courtroom for a progress report, and the judge has just reminded him he's got a choice: Finish an intensive batterers-intervention program and see the prison sentence and his guilty plea erased, or go to jail. Acosta opts for the program.

"Oh, and he's still having the jealousy issues," prosecutor Judy Stevens says of the 48-year-old Acosta. "I'll ask the program to address that in the classes," Stevens tells the judge, nodding at Roseanne Esposito, who is sitting a few feet away with a notebook on her lap. Esposito's agency runs the batterers' program.

Sounds simple, but this example of the teamwork in Bridgeport, and the fact that specially assigned prosecutors, public defenders, family-relations staffers and a judge handle every domestic violence case that comes into the courthouse, sets Bridgeport apart from many of the other courts in Connecticut.

Despite an increasing family violence caseload statewide, there remains a wide disparity in the way state courts handle these cases, from pushing defendants to go through intense programs under the threat of jail to going little beyond the standard prosecution..................