<html><head></head><body><div style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div>Given recent events, I feel the need to post a more academic/legal perspective on domestic violence, so as to avoid the conflation of distinct issues--obviously regarding the relationship between domestic violence and mass shootings. This summary was provided to me a year ago May, subsequent to the murder of my former colleague Jessica Thomas by her husband, who has since been convicted. It was provided by my friend and local community member, Robert Ferrer, an IT specialist who has worked on legal issues related to parental rights. It is distributed with his permission:</div><div><p class="ydpe6391b52MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Scholars in this field have identified a typology (Michael P.
Johnson). The situation with Jessica (of blessed memory) is classified as
<b>Intimate Terrorism</b>. This is
where the partner from a basis of misguided male privilege controls and abuses
his/her spouse in the most extreme way. Only a tiny percentage of the
population would be classified as such. The overwhelming category is
known as <b>Situational Couple Violence</b>.
In this scenario we are dealing not with the desire for control but an
inability to engage in effective conflict resolution. It tends to spiral
out of control. Both partners are equally involved. The appropriate
intervention is couple counseling and conflict resolution classes. The
only intervention that the court mandates is known as the Duluth Model where it
is assumed that the man is engaged in Intimate Terrorism. All men are
mandated to this model, hence the reason for its abysmal failure. The
model does not apply to most men mandated to this intervention. <br></span></p>
<p class="ydpe6391b52MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Most issues that impute domestic violence (especially those that
occur at the time of divorce) are handled is Civil Court where the standard of
proof is the lowest. The court (under pressure) maintains a ‘better safe
than sorry’ attitude and therefore issues Orders of Protection like there were
candy. No proof is needed. The accuser only needs to sound
credible. The standard of proof (Preponderance of Evidence) only requires
the court be 51% correct. In civil court, the normal due process
protections guaranteed by the Constitution do not apply. Famous NJ case,
Crespo v. Crespo, the court applied the US Supreme Court Mathews Decision to
determine the appropriate standard of proof to adjudicate such cases.
They concluded that it should be the more stringent Clear and Convincing
standard. It was quickly overturned by the higher court. That is
why local attorney, Scott Lerner, writing for the ISBA Journal said the OPs are
more used as a sword rather than as a shield. As a sword, the issuance of
an OP to the father, for example, not only deprive him of his home but also
access to his children (OPs can include the children as well as the
spouse). This automatically gives the spouse a strategic advantage in
getting full custody (the defendant is automatically denied custody) and
severely limit or terminate contact with his children. <br></span></p>
<p class="ydpe6391b52MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">We do not make distinctions and throw everything into one basket.</span></p>
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