domestic violence

Victims in Guilford County will pay the price for bureaucratic myopia:

The state says the county has been getting double what it’s due — money for programs in Greensboro and High Point. But those who run the local programs say they deserve the money because they serve a total larger population and each program meets eligibility requirements.

Greensboro is the state’s third-largest city and High Point is the eighth. Each city has a higher population than some of the state’s other counties.

They're not getting enough funding as it is, and now it's going to be slashed in half? :(

For victims of domestic violence in Buncombe County, the process for obtaining an ex parte (temporary restraining order) is surprisingly fast, and essentially just two steps: once one fills out the necessary paperwork, a judge will review all cases twice a day. Buncombe County is blessed with judges who understand the gravity of domestic violence, something many areas still lack, and those trying to flee dangerous relationships can generally rely on the courts to grant them a temporary order until the case can later be heard in civil court.

2009 has yet to draw to a close, but one still has to scroll the mouse a while to read the full list of homicide victims names on the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s website. There are almost 60 names as of October, all killed by intimate partners, family members, and some bystanders who just got caught in the fray. Of those, 47 were felled by guns. The list does not include names of perpetrators who committed suicide following their crime, but if it did, the grand total would be 58.

As in all things, true reform will start at home.

Specifically, I am talking about health care reform, and the practice of classifying domestic violence as a pre-existing condition.

Update - Today (9/15) my outrage just went from a 9 on a 10 point scale to a 15. Follow below for the update.

Dispatch called earlier so I was expecting them. It was after midnight when they knocked on the door. The seven of them, standing there with nothing except a small suitcase between them. The youngest, leaning into mom, clearly just awakened from his sleep in the patrol car. The oldest boys were bickering and the little girl was barefooted. They were dirty and tired and scared but I could see relief in mom’s face. This was at least a break for her, a chance to breathe and make a plan. I brought them in, offered them food, drinks, and helped mom get her children all tucked into bed before I started the paperwork that would tell me how we ended up together on this hot, hot night in July. The officer left, promising to keep a watchful eye.

I wrote yesterday about two progressive Domestic Violence laws ratified by the General Assembly this week. Many of you were touched by the issue as a whole. I was trying to shine at least a dim light on the people who help women get out of destructive abusive or violent relationships.

In recent weeks, others here at blueNC have written eloquently about the outlandish and discriminatory 'Defense of Marriage' laws and constitutional ammendments currently being pushed by mindless dogmatic radicals like Called2Action and Fred Smith.

Those are two issues, mildly related, but independent enough that one couldn't overlap the other.

Right?

Wrong.

The NC General Assembly presented two bills to the Governor's office yesterday, 03 April 2007. They are important for everyone, though unlike other Legislative actions, one wishes that the special interest group these laws serve were much smaller than it is.