Violence Against Women Policy Trends Report 9

February 13, 2001

David M. Heger
National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center
University of Missouri - St. Louis
Political Analyst

Federal

President George W. Bush opened the fourth week of his administration with a promise that the nation would "do better" by its military. The President proposes a spending increase of $5.7 billion over the next year for military pay raises and to improve health benefits and housing for the armed services. This week's focus on the nation's defense follows a week in which Mr. Bush lobbied for his proposal of $1.6 trillion in income tax reductions over the next 10 years. Democrats contend that such a large tax cut package would not allow the government to adequately fund necessary programs without returning to the federal budget deficits that were eliminated under President Clinton's watch. The other major issues addressed by the Bush Administration so far include Medicare, faith-based initiatives, and education.

In early February, former Missouri Senator John Ashcroft won Senate confirmation for Attorney General by a narrow margin for a Cabinet appointee (58-42). Only eight Democrats joined all 50 Republicans in approving the controversial Ashcroft. Democratic leaders say the vote sends Mr. Bush a message that he should not attempt to appoint stark conservatives in the future. As Attorney General, Mr. Ashcroft will be the chief official responsible for enforcing laws protecting women from violence and administering law enforcement-related programs to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault.

The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released a report titled Homicide Trends in the United States, which reveals several interesting patterns in intimate partner homicide. The report breaks down domestic violence homicide by race and ethnicity and examines the use of guns in these violent acts. Perhaps the most surprising finding is that in the last 25 years the number of men who have been killed by an intimate female partner has dropped far more sharply than the number of women who have been killed by male partners. This trend coincides with an increase of services for battered women, including hotlines, shelters, counseling, and restraining orders. One of the study's authors, Dr. James Fox, commented on this ironic finding, "Because more battered women have escape routes, fewer wife batterers are being killed." The report can be viewed online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimate.htm.

Two pieces of legislation introduced in Congress this session have recently garnered substantial attention from violence prevention advocates. The federal hate crimes prevention bill, renamed the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, addresses gender-motivated violence against women. The National Organization for Women indicates that "women charging state and local authorities with failure or refusal to enforce the law, especially restraining orders, reportedly make up the largest number of complaints received by the Office of Violence Against Women at the Justice Department." Advocates are also pushing for the permanent creation of the Violence Against Women Office, which was temporarily set up to administer grants created by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Representatives Louise Slaughter (D-New York), Connie Morella (R-Maryland), and Karen McCarthy (D-Missouri) are sponsoring the Violence Against Women Office Act (H.R. 28) in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota) introduced companion legislation (S. 161).

State

Mid-February finds most state legislative sessions in full swing. Florida and Louisiana will join the list of active lawmaking bodies in March, while Virginia plans to adjourn its relatively short session later this month. Two new governors were recently inaugurated to fill the void left by President Bush's Cabinet picks; Former State Senate President Donald DiFrancesco replaced Christie Todd Whitman in New Jersey and former Lieutenant Governor Scott McCallum stepped in for Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin. DiFrancesco and McCallum will be up for reelection in November 2001 and 2002, respectively. The once-popular Illinois Governor George Ryan is facing heat for his alleged role in a licenses-for-bribes scandal that led to the deaths of six children in 1994. A recent statewide poll shows that a plurality of registered voters in the state believes that Mr. Ryan should resign from his office.

State legislators continue to grapple with policy that is aimed at preventing sexual assault against women. South Dakota SB 22 focuses on protecting women and girls from high-risk sex offenders that have been released from prison. The measure, which has won approval from the Senate and now goes to the House, would post the names and addresses of the most dangerous sex offenders on the Internet. A bill that has been filed in Florida, which has not yet convened its regular session, hopes to keep young females from having to go to school with their juvenile attackers. According to the bill's sponsor, this idea has bipartisan support in the Florida Legislature. Specifically, the measure prevents juvenile sex offenders from attending the same school or even riding the same school bus as their victims.

The use of DNA evidence in solving crimes of violence against women is a hot-button issue in many legislatures across the country this year. Kentucky HB 33 has garnered the attention of local media because it requires DNA collection from all felons. Currently in the state, DNA is only taken from convicted sex offenders. Supporters believe that having the ability to draw from a larger pool of genetic evidence may help law enforcement in solving cases of rape and murder. 2001 legislation in Indiana and Texas also make statutory changes that would augment the role of DNA in identifying and prosecuting sex offenders. (See Trends Reports 5 and 8)

Judicial

In a victory for women who have been the object of stalking, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel recently upheld Michigan's 1993 anti-stalking law. A lower court had previously declared the law unconstitutional and ordered the release of a man who had incessantly called his ex-girlfriend and threatened to kill her relatives and burn down her house. If the original ruling had not been overturned, experts contend that several more convicted stalkers in the state could have been released from prison.

The New Jersey Supreme Court is currently considering whether the state's sex offender community notification law should apply to juveniles who were younger than 14 when they committed their crime.