Stopping the Chronic Batterer Through Legislation: Will It Work This Time?

Abstract

Since society's understanding of violence is imperfect, any assistance it offers to victims will also be defective. For example, suppose the chief of police believes that the man is "the head of the household" and that government should never interfere with his authority in the home. You could then assume that the deputies under him would also share this ideology. However, if the chief subsequently changes his opinion about man being the supreme authority in the home, then his deputies will dismiss their initial understanding on the issue by altering their perception of violence to align with the chief's position. Changing the chief's attitude about violence does not come from a statute or law because his understanding of violence is cultural. However, his cultural convictions will change his management of domestic violence cases and hopefully enlighten others to change theirs.

This Article will attempt to address three specific aspects of this phenomenon. Part I will discuss and hopefully set aside some of the most prevalent societal biases victims encounter once they courageously decide to expose their hidden shame. Part II will critique the success of three of the most popular solutions our law enforcement agencies and legislators have created to terminate the flow of violence in the home. Part II will also discuss whether these proposed solutions actually provide the victim with the necessary assistance she needs to regain control over her life and the life of her children.

Finally, Part III will discuss Act 1038 (also referred to as House Bill 849), which was introduced and passed by the Louisiana Legislature during its 2003 Regular Legislative Session. Act 1038 creates the state's first domestic violence battery statute that will finally give district attorney offices across the state a means of increasing penalties for those convicted of domestic abuse. Proponents of Act 1038 suggest that a separate criminal statute will be less rigid than the "mandatory prosecution" policies, yet more aggressive than a majority of the other proposed solutions. Part III will also examine whether this new statute will offer domestic violence victims a more flexible or victim-friendly solution than the other solutions discussed in Part II. Finally, I will review the advantages and disadvantages of having a criminal statute for domestic violence and juxtapose this statute against other more victim-friendly methods of deterrence.