. And as for them not being serious offenses--- if you're suggesting that violence to one's spouse or children should not be regulated by the Government, you're certainly not going to win me over. You should go spent some time at a women's shelter and talk to victims of domestic violence.
Ok dude, you are continuing to put words in my mouth, and in particular I do not appreciate you acting like I am somehow ignoring violence against women. I also have family that are rape and abuse victims you can put the kibosh on that stuff right here and now, thanks.
What I was saying is that lots of people get multiple things like DV and simple assault charges who are not predators or abusers..but are impoverished, may have a substance abuse issues related to the incident, or both. Of course people need to be prosecuted for DV and abuse victims need to be protected, that goes without saying.
In the state I live in it is quite possible to wrack up multiple DV charges that mean possible jail time, and definitely long term probation and court fees, without any actual abuse taking place. just two people getting in a screaming fight and throwing something at a wall arguing with a spouse, or getting in a shoving match with your brother is enough. These kinds of cases tend to be poor people. Certainly some kind of intervention is needed, but it's debatable whether the interventions that come through the criminal justice system
in cases like these have a net benefit at all.
Is DV serious and the cause of huge suffering? Yes of course, and I don't know how on earth I need to explain to you that I think that is the case in order to make a pretty simple critique of the justice system.
The good scenario is they get some DV treatment (varies hugely in quality here) and learn some anger management skills, with minimal jail time. Judging from some of the population I and my loved one have seen though, for some people this is their "intro" to years worth of involvement in the justice system, up to and including some incarceration. To be fair, where I live they do a pretty good job of being proportional in terms of sentencing from what I see...but I'll bet that is not true everywhere, and I can imagine where I grew up in New Mexico for example, these systemic problems are simply magnified.
It irks me enough that you twisted my words about DV that this is going to be my last participation in the conversation, assuming my words were
suggesting that violence to one's spouse or children should not be regulated by the Government, you're certainly not going to win me over.
I just beyond the pale, and we clearly have some communication issues. I suspect you know I was not saying that I think there should be no such thing as DV, and I'm not sure why you decided to imply that.