The gap between what the law and legal processes deliver for victims of domestic abuse and what they actually need has, in some instances, arguably widened. This book provides the reader with a thorough understanding of the remedies available to victims in the civil, family and criminal law. It contends that expectations of the legal remedies have increased as the number and scope of remedies has proliferated. It further examines how legal responses to domestic abuse have evolved over the past decade and explores how the victim’s rights narrative and associated litigation, which has become prevalent in legal discourse and criminal justice reforms, has shifted expectations and impacted domestic abuse policy and law. The book presents a valuable addition to the literature in drawing on a discourse familiar to those with an interest in human rights, demonstrating its impact on a substantive area of law of great significance to both family and criminal lawyers and anyone with an interest in domestic abuse and legal responses.

Brave, humane, and generous . . . still he was only a brave, humane, and generous rebel; curse on his virtues, they've undone this country. --Member of British Parliament Lord North, upon hearing of General Richard Montgomery's death in battle against the British At 3 a.m. on December 31, 1775, a band of desperate men stumbled through a raging Canadian blizzard toward Quebec. The doggedness of this ragtag militia--consisting largely of men whose short-term enlistments were to expire within the next 24 hours--was due to the exhortations of their leader. Arriving at Quebec before dawn, the troop stormed two unmanned barriers, only to be met by a British ambush at the third. Amid a withering hale of cannon grapeshot, the patriot leader, at the forefront of the assault, crumpled to the ground. General Richard Montgomery was dead at the age of 37. Montgomery--who captured St. John and Montreal in the same fortnight in 1775; who, upon his death, was eulogized in British Parliament by Burke, Chatham, and Barr; and after whom 16 American counties have been named--has, to date, been a neglected hero. Written in engaging, accessible prose, General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution chronicles Montgomery's life and military career, definitively correcting this historical oversight once and for all.

Decriminalizing Domestic Violence asks the crucial, yet often overlooked, question of why and how the criminal legal system became the primary response to intimate partner violence in the United States. It introduces readers, both new and well versed in the subject, to the ways in which the criminal legal system harms rather than helps those who are subjected to abuse and violence in their homes and communities, and shares how it drives, rather than deters, intimate partner violence. The book examines how social, legal, and financial resources are diverted into a criminal legal apparatus that is often unable to deliver justice or safety to victims or to prevent intimate partner violence in the first place. Envisioned for both courses and research topics in domestic violence, family violence, gender and law, and sociology of law, the book challenges readers to understand intimate partner violence not solely, or even primarily, as a criminal law concern but as an economic, public health, community, and human rights problem. It also argues that only by viewing intimate partner violence through these lenses can we develop a balanced policy agenda for addressing it. At a moment when we are examining our national addiction to punishment, Decriminalizing Domestic Violence offers a thoughtful, pragmatic roadmap to real reform.

This textbook examines the sadly prevalent appearance of domestic violence in all areas of the law -- from its obvious place in criminal and family law to its less apparent connection to tort, divorce, child custody and federal law. The book also explores how domestic violence is treated in the justice system and explores the ethical and legal considerations for lawyers working in the field. Much has changed since the publication of the first edition a decade ago, particularly in the areas of evidence, expert witnesses, immigration and federal firearms laws. In addition, the book has expanded its scope to include issues surrounding domestic violence on Native American lands, among the police and the military and among the elderly. It also explores how domestic violence is handled in the Third World. The book is designed not only for students who wish to specialize in domestic violence law but for practitioners working in the field and for other students and lawyers who simply have an intellectual interest in the subject. As in the first volume, the book explores the subject in a readily accessible manner by including not only traditional legal articles and case law but selections from history, literature, media, and the popular culture. It also includes interviews with lawyers, artists, and advocates who have taken unique approaches to the challenges in fighting domestic violence as well as pictures and diagrams.

"This book explores how women from diverse backgrounds interact with the law in response to intimate partner violence, over time. Every year, millions of women globally turn to law to help them live lives free and safe from violence. Women engage with child protection services and police. They apply for civil protection orders and family court orders to help them manage their children's contact with a violent father, and take special visa pathways to avoid deportation following separation from an abuser. Women are often compelled to interact with law, through their abuser's myriad legal applications against them. While separation may seem like a solution, it often accelerates legal engagement providing new opportunities for continued abuse. Countless women who have experienced Intimate Partner Violence are enmeshed in overlapping, complex and often inconsistent legal processes. They have both fleeting and longer-term connections with legal system actors. Their stories demonstrate how abusers harness multiple aspects of the legal process, and its actors, to continue their abuse. They highlight the regular failure of legal processes and actors to comprehend the significance of non-physical abuse. Women show how legal system actors' common expectation that separation is a single event, rather than a process, has implications for their connections with law and the outcomes they achieve. From time to time, the women in this study attained the safety and closure they sought from law, sometimes in circular and unexpected ways, but their narratives demonstrate the level of endurance, tenacity and time this often required"--

This text provides a philosophical investigation of the criminal prosecution of domestic violence. It features a theoretical framework for understanding ongoing debates regarding the criminal justice system's response to domestic violence.