First Ever Domestic Violence Claim Filed (Jessica Gonzeles)

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/010106FirstEverClaim.html

First Ever Domestic Violence Claim Filed
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on behalf of Jessica Gonzales, the mother of three girls killed by her estranged husband whose domestic violence protection claims were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. The petition, the first of its kind, asserts that domestic violence victims have the right to be protected by the state from the violent acts of their abusers.

In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Gonzales when it found that the Constitution does not recognize an entitlement by domestic violence victims to enforcement of their protective orders.

"Jessica Gonzales' quest for justice met a dead end at the U.S. Supreme Court," said Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, an attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project. "She suffered devastating harm as a result of police inaction and if the U.S. Supreme Court won't hear her case on the merits, we will bring it to the international community. The police department's failure to protect the lives of Jessica's three young daughters should be internationally condemned."

...

The petition in Gonzales v. USA is available online at:
www.aclu.org/womensrights/gen/23227lgl20051223.html

More information about Jessica Gonzales' Supreme Court case is available online at: www.aclu.org/scotus/2004/20919res2005021504278/20919res20050215.html 1-1-06

No entitlement for domestic violence victims?

My ex-husband had been showing up pretty much every night and threatening to kill me or my three daughters (you can imagine how horrified I was for this Jessica Gonzales. I could have been me, 13 years ago). Even though I had a protective order, when I called the police, I was told that they had to catch him doing something before they could arrest him. One cop eventually advised me to invite him in and then attempt to kill him inside, as that would be justified. That was protection I got from the police in Waldorf, MD, 13 years ago.

My ex-husband eventually got put in prison and held without bond, but that was only after he had kidnapped my daughters and tried to kill me in a public place. There was then video tape and nine witnesses to him assaulting me, so he went to jail for 3 years. During those 3 years, I was able to get a divorce and sole custody of my daughters with visitation for him only for 2 hours on Sundays. But, it had to be documented and verified. They wouldn't do anything to help me before it was too "in your face" for them to deny it. I still believe that 3 years is pretty much crap. If I had been a stranger to him and he had done those things, he would have gone away for life. But since I had married him, it was just worth three years. Sorry, I guess I'm still a little bitter.

However, my story has a happy ending. I remarried a wonderful mane who loves me and treats my daughters as his own. We were able to move away from Maryland and start a new life in Florida. And my ex-husband (and his family) hasn't had any contact with my daughters since Christmas, 1996. The say that the best revenge is to make positive changes, and that is what I did.

My heart goes out to Jessica Gonzales. I can only imagine the hell she is going through. I'm lucky that I didn't have to live through it.

So sad how some individuals have some kind of monster inside that shows up only later in a relationship. It's frightening.
I am very glad to hear the happy ending for yours, and appreciate you sharing it, since I have a friend who may be able to learn from the experience.

ago that women fleeing from abusive husbands, even those with children have to have all sorts of documentation to get into a shelter for abused women.

It is hard enough to fill out the forms with unnecessary documentation to get food stamps and medical care if you are not being threatened. When someone is fleeing, they are supposed to stop and get all sorts of personal records so they can spend the night in a protective shelter??

the ones I've worked at weren't like that. to get any gov't assistance, yes, but we always took a woman's word for it. those were confidential short-term (up to 3 weeks) shelters tho, maybe non-confidential is different bc some people pretend that they're victims just to have a place to stay, but I don't know how employment docs and whatever would help. a po certainly wasn't required to stay in the shelter in Bellingham or Seattle.

victims among the new homeless while dennis hasterts holds up congress reconvening to protect delay and to stop his own bribery investigation.

Thank you for co-sponsoring the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2005 (H.R. 1402). I am writing to ask that you urge the House Leadership to bring H.R. 1402 to the floor.

As you know, H.R 1402 now has majority support in the House. In fact, this is the third Congress in a row that a majority of Representatives have cosponsored legislation aimed at ensuring that health plans provide fair coverage for mental health care...

Please do your part to ensure that another year does not pass without this important legislation being considered. I ask that you please urge the House Leadership to bring H.R. 1402 to the floor.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/webreturn/?url=/spanusa/issues/alert/?alertid=8249271

Majority of House Supports Mental Health Parity
Time to bring H.R. 1402 to the floor!

Read about this bill

Yesterday, Representatives Kennedy (D-RI) and Ramstad (R-MN) announced that for the third Congress in a row, a majority of Representatives have cosponsored legislation aimed at ensuring that health plans offer fair coverage for mental health care. They also urged the House leadership to bring up the bill, called the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act (H.R.1402). The bill currently has 219 cosponsors in the House. Despite having majority support in the House of Representatives for the last five years, House leaders have refused to bring mental health parity legislation to the floor for debate or a vote, nor has any House Committee brought it up for consideration.

Please contact your Representative today and ask him/her to urge the House Leadership to bring H.R. 1402 to the floor for debate and/or a vote.

SSD and medicaid spend-downscannot afford spend-down for medical care

Is there anyone that is on SSD and receive $12,900. a year which puts them in a spend-down with medicaid, which you cannot afford to pay at $375. a month, for medical expenses. My adult son has a brain injury from an accident and now developed Multiple Sclerosis he can not afford to pay for his spend=down until medicare kicks in Oct.2005, which his ms treatments are not covered by medicare. I'm ready to go to Washington, or to get a lawyer, any one in the same boat? jlo2322004@sbcglobal.net Thanks, for letting me sound off.

I hear the stories of those who have had to forego care because they are uninsured; mothers, fathers, children who have fatal diseases, forced to face fatal consequences because they cannot effectively access the health care system. Statistics show that up to 18,000 people die each year because we ignore the plight of the uninsured. That is the equivalent of 49 people a day.

Who are the uninsured? Often we are led to believe that if people are working they will have health coverage for themselves and their families. This is not the case. Eighty percent are in families in which at least one person is working. Many employers and workers are finding it difficult to afford health insurance due to the continual increases in health care costs. Service and labor jobs, which make up a significant portion of our workforce, are less likely to offer insurance. Moreover, part-time workers are often ineligible for employer-sponsored insurance and low-wage workers often cannot afford to pay their premiums.

This woman had a protective order and the cops still wouldn't do ANYTHING to help her - she knew her hubby was dangerous and she was right. Now her kids are dead. I wonder how the cops who were on duty that night feel about it. Not that they make the rules, but it just shows you how fukd up the system is, and how the most vulnerable among us get screwed.

:(

ton, BushCo and friends get rich

wearing an anti-Bush t-shirt, the secret service would have taken him into custody. How in the world does being or having been married to someone make you give up your rights as a citizen. If they had been strangers the guy probably would have gotten the chair.

Domestic violence as a human rights issue. Thanks for posting it!

..." does not recognize an entitlement by domestic violence victims to enforcement of their protective orders."

Well then THAT needs to be changed. I can't WAIT until we have a PROGRESSIVE President (Madame President, preferably) who will seriously address this issue.

What the HELL kind of country IS this when domestic violence victims (male or female) cannot retain protection under protective or restraining orders?

What a crock 'O shiite.

GO GO ACLU. Once again, I'm glad I renewed my membership yesterday.

Protecting families is job #9,999,999,999.

Protecting mothers, and children of single parents, is sadly out of the known universe.

... you know, prosper and all that. Certainly there is something in the Bible they'd find to justify a mother of 3 slain by a husband.

</sarcasm>

Women are property.