AUGUSTA, Maine — The chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said Thursday that the court system would work with the governor and lawmakers to curb domestic violence in Maine.
In her annual State of the Judiciary address, Leigh I. Saufley announced that, effective immediately, bail commissioners may not set bail in domestic violence-related cases unless they have access to the defendant’s criminal history in Maine.
“We know that one of the most important tools in averting repeated violence is for judicial officers to have the criminal history records of the person charged with domestic violence,” she said. “Without that history, informed decisions cannot be made.”
Bail commissioners sometimes don’t have that information because of varying legal interpretations, technological limitations, law enforcement staffing limitations and miscommunication, according to Saufley.
“But frankly, it doesn’t matter why bail commissioners don’t have the records,” she said. “By law, you have mandated policies by which criminal history records will be relayed to the bail commissioners. To make well-informed decisions, they must have the information. Too often, they are not receiving the reports. That is simply not acceptable.”
If a bail commissioner does not have a defendant’s criminal history, the defendant will have to remain in jail and appear before a judge within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, Saufley said at a press conference after her speech.
Gov. Paul LePage, who has made eradicating domestic violence a priority for his administration, praised her action in a press release issued Thursday afternoon.
“I applaud Chief Justice Saufley for taking a proactive step which will ensure the safety of the public,” he said. “Any type of violence against a person is a threat to their well-being and we know domestic violence can be particularly harmful and escalate quickly for those who are in relationships. I commend the leadership of the chief justice for this renewed focus on domestic violence and implementation of meaningful change which will benefit many Mainers.”
In a statement issued after the address, House Minority Leader Emily Cain, D-Orono, also expressed support for Saufley’s desire to curb domestic violence.
“I look forward to working with the Chief Justice to strengthen … protections for victims of domestic violence,” said Cain, who has introduced emergency legislation to prevent domestic violence this year in response to the tragic event in Dexter last June in which Steven Lake murdered his wife, Amy Lake, and the couple’s two children before turning the gun on himself.
“The Dexter tragedy rightfully put our entire system under a microscope,” Cain said. “We know that we must work together [to] do more to protect victims and prevent harm.”
The Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will hold public hearings Monday on Cain’s bill and other bills concerning domestic violence.
The chief justice’s action raised concerns among criminal defense attorneys.
“I am deeply concerned that the likely effect here is that people merely accused of crimes are going to be held without any bail whatsoever,” Walter McKee of Augusta said in an email. “That’s flatly unfair, unconstitutional and disappointing. The overwhelming majority of those arrested are going to be held while waiting for information that will have zero impact on any bail issue.”
The president of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers also expressed concern about Saufley’s directive.
“Holding an accused on a crime that is bailable as a matter of right until criminal history information is received is not a novel concept — the problem is that technical limitations on the sharing of this type of information between law enforcement and bail commissioners results in justice being denied and constitutional rights being violated,” Sarah Churchill of Portland said Thursday in an email.
“What the Chief Justice has proposed can be done without violating the rights of the accused if changes are made to how information is shared,” she continued. “I have concerns about how quickly those types of changes can be made and how the potential violations of constitutional rights of the accused are going to be handled in this interim period of time.”
Saufley did say that the rights of the accused guaranteed by the Maine and U.S. constitutions must be preserved and enforced.
“To be clear, in our efforts to eradicate domestic violence, we must not allow a rush to judgment to sweep in the innocent,” she told lawmakers.
“We must preserve and enforce the rights guaranteed by the Maine and federal constitutions. And we must carefully balance the rights of the accused against public safety and protection for victims.”
Saufley also said that the court system should be involved in finding solutions to domestic violence.
“While the courts are neutral fact-finders, courts are not neutral on the fact of, or the solutions for, domestic violence,” she said. “Chief justices across the country are looking for ways to better identify the potentially lethal cases.”
Saufley suggested using principles outlined by the national Conference of Chief Justices as a guide in crafting legislation and implementing changes to the court system. They are:
• Families in crisis must be able to easily access courts.
• Judges must have comprehensive information on prior court orders and any history of violence in the family.
• Convicted abusers must be held accountable.
• Judges can be catalysts to enhance intergovernmental collaboration for improvement.
New initiatives in 2012 that Saufley announced Thursday include audio web streaming of oral arguments in appeals to the state supreme court and a pilot program that would direct phone calls from people in Androscoggin County from the clerks’ offices in Lewiston and Auburn to three court employees who would answer questions, help them find information and more easily negotiate the court system. This would free up clerks to work on cases already filed with fewer interruptions, she said.
In addition, Saufley praised lawmakers Thursday for restoring baseline funding of $55 million a year to the courts after a series of cuts in the previous administration left 60 clerk and security jobs vacant because of a hiring freeze.
As of July 1, 2011, the start of the fiscal year, those positions were filled, allowing for an increase in entry screening and efficiency in clerks’ offices around the state, she said.
Sen. David R. Hastings III, R-Fryeburg, who is chairman of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee and an attorney, said after the speech that funding the court system’s baseline budget “has been crucial in providing access to justice, especially in rural area.”
To view the Maine Judicial Branch 2011 Annual Report, click here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Could it be that a lot of domestic violence is caused by a lot of injustice by the Maine Judicial System and other Judicial Systems across this country. People mostly men are forced to leave their homes. Homes they have worked for all their lives. Children they have loved all their lives. Finding them selves homeless with no way to support themselves no way to see their children. Often facing false allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Their lives ruined by these false allegations. Lawyers and judges often use these children as legal leverage in a legal form of kidnapping and extortion with little or no thought for the welfare of the children in these domestic cases. If you’ve never been arrested then you should have automatic joint custody of your children. Judges and lawyers should not be able to hold your children hostage in a legal form of extortion…
Amen. You can be charged with domestic violence if you simply push by someone to leave a room, a simple shoulder to shoulder bump. If emotions are high enough, and someone feels slighted enough and call the police, someone goes to jail. I am not advocating domestic violence in any way, but I see this going down a road where the prosecutors and judges and DHS treat any accusation of domestic violence as a crime of the century and good people end up having their lives destroyed over a family argument that got a little overheated.
‘simply’ push someone…???
****
that’s assault. you are not allowed to put your hands on another person like that.
your username should be singletrackmind
and yours should be
Insults in lieu of Insights
Were you a victim? or close to a victim? Im just saying in the real world all to often woman make false charges some of the men take a plea bargin some get off. Most of the time even when a woman admits she lied about abuse she will not be charged . I in no way condone abuse. Was wrongly charged one time . I have seen the system at work.
I’m sorry for your experience. And I appreciate you coming out against violence.
No. I was never a victim. Though, my ex, generally a good man, stood at 6’5″ and weighed 210 lbs. I’m 5’2″ and 115 lbs. He scared me when he was angry. He didn’t have to touch me for me to be scared. I did have the neighbors call the cops for me one night when he came home drunk and belligerent. He had me cornered, screaming in my face. I yelled ‘call the cops! call the cops!’ my neighbors did and they took him to his parents for the night.
take care David. I’m sorry for your experience. but that does not mean that domestic violence reports are all a sham.
Sounds like you did the right thing. Yes I learned a great deal as I get older like gets better . Hope your ex does well too. I’m all for ending domestic violence I learned a lot from a couple bad relationships. They are not all a shame maybe 10% maybe only 1%who knows? You could have had the ex arrested very easily but why ruin his life for a mistake. I had a lesson well learned . The major issue I have is the system only seems to care about convictions not facts. People need to learn the signs to look for in relationships and know when to get out , Have help doing it and most domestic violence would end.
Most of the child abuse and child murder is caused by mothers. Most of the suicides are committed by. Domestic violence industry is a fraud and a trojan horse designed to abuse and subjugate men and boys and take away civil rights. People need to take a very close look at these women’s organizations who dominate the media and politics with their blatant and violent fraud against men, fathers and boys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzfEzXY-Erg
Well I hadn’t heard that one before. I honestly think both things happen to varying degrees, and some cases are extreme either one way or the other. I’ve lived long enough to see a lot of both. Your argument is at a serious disadvantage because we live in a world where you are either Little Red Riding Hood or the Big Bad Wolf. First we discriminate against you, profile you, convict you, and then we decide what the truth is and put it in a record that is inextricably tied to your personal identity. From then on it’s the truth, regardless of the real truth. Then people get all surprised when you splash 10 gallons of gasoline around the house during a supervised visit after you get out of jail, have no job, no health insurance, no way to stay warm or fed, no way to pay child support, are marked as untrustworthy and thrown away by the world because we have to have demons in order to keep good people safe from bad people and you do the only think you can think of…you strike a match and Sonny comes home.
I hear you. Nobody wants both sides presented. People are polarized on this topic and it is highly emotionally charged. What you said is valid, just as valid as what these femenists are saying, but because nobody else is saying what you’re saying they just come back at you and drown you out. That’s how “Stoooopid” was conceived. Have you ever heard something and thought, “That’s stupid”? You’re left with this unbalanced disbelief and trying to stave off horror because the thing that is so stupid is going to mow you down like a dry crabapple leaf on a late summer lawn.
how hard is it to walk away before the fight goes that far? I do it all the time. Just keep your mouth shut, and walk away.
Sound like you have a some problems if you feel that you have to walk away to avoid getting smacked.
Perhaps those who make false accusations need to go to jail. That way both parties are protected in the long run.
That’s like saying, ” I only robbed one bank so why should my life be ruined by sending me to jail.” If they hadn’t beat their spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, or child they wouldn’t be in trouble in the first place. It is NOT alright to beat others! Far too often the abuse goes on for a long time before the abused gets nerve enough to do something.
Your not getting what we are trying to say. But then we don’t expect you to. Your obviously bias against any reasonable chance for men to be a good coparent with are children. Domestic law court in Maine is nothing but a den of thieves. What we are saying Christ would not have a chance in a Maine court room. And if they did at what cost.
I don’t know about Christ but most of these people are back on the street the same day and assault the person again. You have a point, the system can be slanted against men. However when there is evidence to support claims of violence the perpetrator needs to be locked up for a long time.
So how long have you or some guy friend of your’s been out of your/their house?
To answer your question geek 669 I’ve been out of my house for 40 years my daughter will soon be 40 in this time I have seen the system of the state of Maine get steadily worse. I also got custody of my daughter the expense and pain I’ve never been able to justify in these 40 years During the time in my custody battle I had one of the longest thickest folders in the seventh district I also went before the first female judge in the state of Maine, a woman I sometimes admired and sometimes hated. The system is corrupt and always has been and is worse now more then ever. Just the mere allegation of physical or sexual abuse no matter how clean the defendant has to be investigated. Is it any wonder why our marriage rate has been steadily declining. Is it because I children have witnessed the fiasco of the their parents and simply do not want to get married?
HaHaHa, Geek, that’s funny, LMAO.
“mostly men are forced to leave their homes. Homes they have worked for all their lives. ”
***
and mostly women die at the hands of their intimate partners.
From the CDC: of the 2,740 deaths from partner abuse, 7 out of 10 of them were women.
Women can leave any time they want.
Amy Lake left her husband, and he still killed her. My friend Sally left her husband, and he still killed her. In fact Sally left her husband, more time then I can count. Each time he would find her, and literally drag her home. This was in the time before, laws protected women from their abusive husbands and partners.
Until sometime in the 70’s it was still legal to force your wife to have sex. Do you want to go back there? Should women use these laws as weapons, NO! This is part of the process, and needs to be worked out. For every man that gets called on that doesn’t do anything, there’s 10 who get called on that have beat the chit out of there wife. Also remember even if you don’t hit with your fist, that verbal abuse is just as bad, and many time more damaging
You are just making up statistics. That’s pretty much the entire DV industry in a nutshell…one huge fraud full of lies and fake statistics. What we have is a few crazy and stupid women and the police state all too eager to use them. I would like to see the Supreme Court Justice address rampant abuse and corruption in the legal community.
I would like to see Lepage address the 136 deaths last year in motor vehicle accidents. I would like to see Lepage declare war on male suicides and boys falling behind….issues which are truly at epidemic levels. Domestic Violence is a FRAUD. Tell your abusive girlfriend “I’m breaking up with you” and crazy DV feminists scream “Domestic Abuse!” They are pushing to classify deleting of your girlfriend’s phone number from your cellphone as a form of Domestic Abuse.
Women are not children and are not some retarded beings. It is time they are treated equally by the justice system instead of being treated like incompetent and helpless children. Women know what they are doing and they play the system like violin when things don’t go their way. “Domestic Abuse” is now anything that doesn’t please a woman that a man does. Fraud. Pure and simple.
Meanwhile, men are being murdered by women in Maine, are rotting in prisons, halfway houses, and are committing suicide because of these lying women and the corrupt system that serves them.
Do you believe in unicorns too?
Spreading information you know to be false isn’t helping anyone here, least of all yourself. What you are purporting is untrue and potentially inflammatory if one was to believe it. Thankfully your comment went well beyond the bounds of anything resembling credible so no one in their right mind is going to buy it.
That’s a crock of youknowwhat. Women in non-abusive, non-controlling relationships can leave anytime they want. If her partner is threatening her life if she leaves him, then she is taking a great risk by leaving as violence and the potential of being killed escalates as the abuser feels he is losing control. An abuser will intimidate, threaten her family members or threaten to kill the children if they lose control. All the while they are threatening others, they simultaneously claim they are being victimized by the system, claim that there is bias against men, etc. They blame everyone else for their troubles in life and they feel as if they are victims and somehow it is their partners fault. Abusers are absolutely the sorriest lot as they are filled with fear of losing control and do not care what their impact is on others as long as their needs are met. It’s all about them. It’s obvious you are ignorant of the trauma of abuse and the nature of abusive relationships. I dare you to learn more about it. It isn’t an all women are liars, all men are innocent cliche. Unethical, controlling behavior comes in both genders, but don’t be silly enough to assume women in abusive relationships can leave anytime they want.
To really understand divorce and custody issues you have to understand its history both legal and social. A subject I will not get into now. The biggest problem is one of money as most subjects we face in our lives. Women don’t want to leave the home because in most cases the children don’t won’t to leave. That is where the money is. During my long study and involvement in this issue. I’ve come across some truly foaming at the mouth man hating women a lot of which work the Main Department of Health and Human Services. There are some women not all that truly believe that it’s always the man’s fault. The true issue here is the children and what better way to alienate the father from the children then to accuse them of false physical or sexual abuse. Right off the bat you‘re looking at an issue that will alienate you from your children. There needs to be some kind hindrance or penalty for false allegations. In many societies if the victim or defendent is found innocent then the person who made the false allegation are put on trail and faces the same punishment.
So the 3 out of 10 don’t matter?
of course it matters!!
the Judge sent a message to all genders that domestic violence is just a ‘tiff’ that can be fixed with a dinner and a movie. that’s ridiculous.
whether a man hit a woman, or a woman hit a man is irrelevant. domestic violence is serious and should be considered serious.
We did not see the whole details of the case . Were you in court? Maybe the woman slapped him first happens many times and was not arrested. Maybe all the facts came out in court.
Of course neither of us was in court that day. Here is my point: if the judge thought he had committed no crime he should have dismissed the charges. if the judge thought he was guilty ‘dinner and a movie’ is an inappropriate sentence.
you and i are doing the same thing…tripping the lights fantastic between these two different domestic violence articles.
anyone who didn’t read the story about the Florida judge won’t get whole conversation.
oops
Then what was the point of pointing out the statistic?
I was replying to a comment. Did you read the entire conversation or just pounce on my comment because my UserID says ‘girl’?
Makes no difference these days. Maybe you only idnetify yourself as one.
Yes of the serious injuries men do more . Woman do hit men a lot more than men hit woman. Most arrest for domestic violence are not the serious injuries type. (woman hits man over head with the phone man rips phone off wall man gets arrested) . Men a wrongly accused at a rate much higher than woman.
where are you getting your statistics?
im not doubting you, i’m just hoping you are not making up stats based upon heresay.
Just what I have seen in my life. Statistics can show anything you want them to. The one time I went to court The assistant DA. lied about some of the fact like saying he issued her a supeana when he did not. He wanted me so bad to take a plea bargin for disorderly conduct. Well the judge was not happy with him. came back with a dismissal. Why can’t they charge them with perjury? Oh DAs are exempt. It was all about getting the 100% conviction rate not about what really happened.
so you made up the numbers to suit your point of view?
not cool.
Look, I’m not saying women aren’t or can’t be abusive. But I do think there is a contextual relationship that needs to be considered. Remember when the Pit Bull tore the arm of that poor woman in Milo? All the pit bull owners come out and say ‘cocker spaniels bite too!’
There is a difference between ‘bite’ and ‘maul’. One breaks the skin, the other maims you for life, or worse.
Under NO circumstances, male or female, is it ‘okay’ to hit someone. I’m not sure if you think I said that…I did not.
I agree with you. Just saying a woman will slap a man maybe not hurt him Like some men do to woman. A lot of these domestic cases are not the real abuse cases. Most cases I have seen the woman stand by their man. A man will go to jail for things most woman won’t like a slap. Try it sometime Call a woman that is cheating on you a ho and see if you do not get slapped. Most men would not hit a woman.
an abuse victim (a real abuse victim) will ‘stand by her man’ for many reasons:
1. fear. he may come after her and kill her
2. financial fear. she may well be a stay at home mom and not have a job to help her
3. no emotional support. the abuser has usually isolated her emotionally from her friends and family.
4. fear she may lose her kids
5. hope. he swears he wont do it again and she loves him and hopes he won’t do it again
the reason the law should take every report of abuse seriously is that a shove today can turn into a punch tomorrow. violence escalates. i think there is very little chance that once violence starts that it will not reoccur.
Again, sounds like you’ve had an ordeal or two. But ‘false reporting’ does not explain how thousands of women (and hundreds of men) die each year due to domestic violence.
Well stated, STG! It’s a shame that what should be common knowledge has to be constantly reiterated.
Most statistics have thier own agenda or lies. Why when a woman admits lying about abuse is she rarely charged? I am thinking if I filed a false report I would be charged. No excuse for domestic violence on either side but the way the system works (maybe not the law)it seems to protect woman more than men.
i dont know the legal system well enough, but i agree, anyone filing a false report should be charged.
According to CDC women are more violent than men and commit MORE domestic violence than men. I am tired of radical feminists putting men and boys down and sending countless innocent men to prison for their lies. I am tired of seeing 9 out of 10 suicides being committed by men and no one cares about men. I am tired of seeing women commit psychological and physical abuse on men and mothers committing most of the child abuse and child murder and everyone still demonizes and blames men.
The key word is PARTNER. How many of them were same sex partners?
Well stated. Suicide/murder domestic violence, starts with suicide. To stop the killing/suicide, they must first figure address suicide. We see nothing on suicide prevention. A man who has always had his wife and kids looses everything. Many of these men go to their graves with clean records as they are never convicted of a crime, in their entire lifetimes. Unfortunately, you can’t convict someone in a coffin of murder anything else.
First offense domestic violence you can loose all work Licenses. When a man looses his work/business, home, wife and children; what does he have to live for??? What if the entire story was fabricated? Woman almost always reserve all rights to their children. To stop suicide/murder, the system needs to put supports in for the men.
and the women didn’t work for those homes? The woman didn’t give birth to his children? If a person commits the act of domestic violence then darn right they are the one that should leave.
No. I have never heard of one incident of domestic violence being brought on or ordered by the Maine Judicial System. I have heard lots of excuses by those who have been arrested for domestic violence but that is a new one on me. Are you sure it wasn’t the little love tap that broke your partners nose and blackened both eyes? Oh, that’s right you were drunk at the time so that makes it all understandable.
A man being ‘forced’ to leave his home is no excuse for domestic violence. Domestic violence is caused by the person who decides to batter. Grow up.
Men are not the only victims of a failing family court system. The system antagonizes the situation making ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ and often will create a decision that neither party likes. The more aggressive party wins as they are willing to fight dirty, whether they are male or female.
Unfortunately, automatic joint custody is becoming the norm, due to the courts belief that a child does better with contact with both parents. While this maybe true between civil and non-abusive co-parents, the same cannot be said when there is domestic violence involved. Children in joint custody, joint decision-making situations are worse off if one or both of their parents are abusive and controlling. High conflict parents will use any decision, even minor and insignificant to create an argument. The exposure to constant and repeated custody disputes and the resulting loyalty conflict is harmful children. Children are robbed of their childhoods as life is not about them, but about his/her parents fighting. An abusive parent only makes life worse for everyone involved – they are the ultimate squeeky wheels.
An abusive parent is more likely to vilify the other parent and try to turn the child against the targeted parent. This is emotional abuse as children usually want to love both their parents.
We are in agreement that Maine family court doesn’t give a damn about children. They pay lipservice, but don’t act in the child’s best interest. They honor the parents rights to constant litigation over the children’s well-being. They do not acknowledge abuse and control and even force parents to mediate when there are allegations of abuse. How in the hell can a victim of abuse advocate for their rights in the presence of their batterer? Often times a victim of violence is worse off in court if they reveal that there has been violence.
I am a female who lost custody to an abuser. My child lives across the country now, despite living in Maine all his life. The judge overlooked his poor work history, did not include evidence of past abuse in her ruling as it happened prior to current litigation and gave to him everything he wanted, acknowledged he was obsessessive. As he had never maintained health insurance and had a spotty work history and I was always employed and always provided insurance, she decided that I would continue to provide. What is the result? He is now unemployed and he didn’t even last a year with his employer. She awarded custody to the least stable parent and now I worry if my child will bounce from state to state.
The cost of insurance, travel and childcare exceed what I would have to pay in child support by 50 to 60%. My costs are over 6K a year and his only cost is one plane ticket at the lowest price of the year for $500, despite the fact that he has twice as much income. I only have budgeted 7200 a year for housing so I had to choose between my home and being able to see my child. I chose contact with my child. If it were not for friends and family that give me a place to stay I would not be able to see my child.
Despite having my life threatened many times and despite losing my child and carrying a heavy financial burden, it would not be an excuse for domestic violence.
If I may. Dear WTO; I appreciate your pen and it read very interesting and is far to in depth for me to get into here. Having been through the experience myself, I appreciate and can understand what you have written. First thing to point out is one of the things often heard in my 40 years in the subject. Is that we have the bad lawyers hearing the case and the really good lawyers trying the cases. It is suppose to be in the best interest of the children but as you pointed out this is just lip service and the person with the most money usually wins. It is all about money. I am often asked; well do you have a better system and I usually point out the Chinese system one that money does not play that big a role and it’s not supposed to because after all it’s communist in nature but in my opinion the Chinese care much more about their children then we do in this American society…
You need to change your sign-in name because you certainly do not ‘wanttodogood’ or if you do, you certainly have no idea in the world how to do good.
This is something that deserves everybody’s attention.
I want to thank LePage and Saufly for taking a leadership role creating specific solutions towards making women safer in Maine.
Because of the complexion of domestic violence it demands a multiple approach plan
if the Maine community is to minimize the battlefield damages.
I would hazard a guess that the Maine State prison system is populated heavily by inmates who grew up in domestic violent households and their PTSD and learned violent lifestyle was picked up by early childhood imprinting.
I suspect the US Military Industrial complex driven economic depression we are now experiencing
drives and fuels a lot of the anger out of work males feel which impacts their sense of identity and self esteem which impacts their drinking and use of drugs which leads to acting out in violence committed against wives, family members and loved ones.
Here is a recent study showing how the economy impacts domestic violence. http://www.nrcdv.org/dvam/docs/materials/09-resource-packet/Issue_FactsSheets_Handouts/ImpactofEconomy_FactSheet.pdf
In the final analysis the best thing I can do is work on my own awareness, stay in the moment and become a role model for other people who come into contact with me.
I can only take you to where my own level of anger is( or isn’t) eh?
Your over-complicating it. It is what it is. From a logical perspective it makes no sense to start with the apparent outcomes and assume the preceding causality. What we do know about tough times is that the paradigm of organizational communication shifts to one of clamor, discord, power, and politics. Those all result in the same problems you described. An intelligent solution would be to rid ourselves of these tyrants that the numbnuts of Maine, Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Idaho, Texas, and Alaska put in office.
Not that this is important, but did this really need to take up the time of the legislators? Did they vote on something about this, were they all in favor of it anyway if they did? If memory serves me right there are a quite a few bills that need to be dealt with in this short session and this just seemed to sap more time away from them getting things done.
That’s the strategy. The Gov’s gotta get his points for chasing domestic violence like Old Dutch Cleanser when it’s obvious his own family cowers in fear of him. “Look, see Honey, those criminals made me governor just like I said they would. Now I can plunder, pillage, and rape the people of the State of Maine and there’s nothing anybody can do about it. Are you going to respect me now and do what I tell you? I don’t want to hear one more GD word about how I’m destroying working families in this state.”
And the lovely Leigh waved her wand and all was good in the land…….
“Maine Chief Justice Leigh Saufley “gestures” during her annual State of the Judiciary address”
Looks like she’s Flipping the Bird at us, Eh?
go figure bdn deletes comments that dont fit there persona
This helps out the situation how, please explain. it just fills up our already over crowded jails. yes there are cases of abuse and yes there are also case that are fraudulent. its time the police do police work and the district attorneys office does there job as well. There is plenty of u out there that is all to eager to jump to an abused women aid from free shelter to advocates to help convict the person thats supposedly responsible. And when are there laws gonna be put in place to hold these women responsible for bringing ahead fraudulent case . trying to win a custody battle or so on. its time we use money to help these men with other ways to deal with there anger instead of jailing them for a simple grab of the wrist or name calling bs that is most of all what these cases are. and weather u all like it or not i think we still all have the right to be presumed innocent till proven guilty with rarely happens today in this country with the media.
.I agree with you Joshua. First I would like to say that we do not approve of, in anyway, a man or women using violence. If you have a political problem call the Maine Commission for Women, (a state agency that both men and women pay for) or what ever their calling it now. If you’re a man “who you going to call“, no one, your out in the cold freezing to death.I agree with you Joshua. First I would like to say that we do not approve of, in anyway, a man or women using violence. If you have a political problem call the Maine Commission for Women, (a state agency that both men and women pay for) or what ever their calling it now. If you’re a man “who you going to call“, no one, your out in the cold freezing to death.
Am I having an acid flashback, or did you just make no sense?
Are there no programs in the state that help men in these same situations? If not then this is not o.k., perhaps men fear saying anything about the abuse because of being a man and all so its looked at like it would be a waste of money to fund such a service. I don’t really know but if its a needed service then the funding should be split in order to make sure that there is services available to both sexes that face such terrible fear.
Dear just being; First I like to apologize for the software clinch in the preceding statement. However getting to the point many years ago decades now when I was politically active in Augusta we put forth legislation for a Maine Commission for Men. This received staunch opposition from the Maine Commission for Women, National League of Women Voters, Maine League of Women Voters and various other feminist groups. When I went to Augusta to testify the legislative hearing I literally had to go with bodyguards. I was harassed and continually watched over by Augusta Security Police officers even being then as now I’ve never been convicted never had an indictment or arrested on any charge.The crux of the movement against the Maine Commission for Men seem to have come out of the very far Political Right-wing that it would help Gay men. As far as I know there is no help for men. There is a case before the Supreme Court of the United States, in giving some men help when they fall back behind on their child support these men are going to jail through no fault of their own because they simply can’t afford a lawyer and a can not pay their child-support
….
As a victim of domestic violence. If a woman’s life or that of her children is being threatened, she must flee the state. Laws must be written so that she isn’t taken for kidnapping. She must remain in hiding for at a minimum a year. Let him get settled into a new life, before she comes out of hiding. When its life and death its life and death. Family and friends can no longer be, a new life is what you must create. The state might want to think about helping these woman resettle in a witness protection like program. I didn’t have this, instead, I cried for fear of kidnapping charges and my child being delivered to him. With a good lawyer, his parental rights were terminated. She is 20, we survived.
Can the state afford to keep these men all in jail forever, because they don’t know who is capable of suicide/murder and who isn’t? Do you know how many woman a day pick up the phone and dial 911, only to say, not true when the police arrive. Because she is living in fear. Many woman now do NOT dare to dial 911 for fear of their husbands or ex loosing their jobs. No job equals no child support.
harddaysnight; I’ve don’t worry about my husband hitting me. That being said I also don’t push him when he’s get mad. My question was to you how hard is it to walk away before things get out of control. cooler heads handle problems, better then when fighting. I won’t, and I don’t fight. I walk away, my husband get the message, we have been married along time.
I have to admit that some men are falsely accused of DV but what about the others who threaten to beat or kill their wife if she calls the Police?
Can you imagine being hit in the corner of your home while worrying
your young son might wake up and his Father in anger might turn on
him? You don’t want to stay but think if you kept quiet the family occasions would continue, like Birthday’s and Christmas. You could
be accused of being a “Trouble Maker” by family members so you stay.
Think of these things when you condemn all women of making false
accusations and of the women living in fear/
Not to diminish the seriousness or disagree with your argument, but if anyone put me and the people I care about in that kind of danger, I’d kill them without a second thought. If you are talking from experience and genuinely are contributing to this forum thank you so much, I’d like to bludgeon you to death like a harbor seal if you wavered instead of protecting your son. I’ve been put in that nutty position of thinking a woman should remove herself and her children from danger and wanting to try to help her, and I got burnt, every time. If she’s not up for it, I’m not either.
i have come to understand that many law enforcement men and women are very abusive to there wifes, husbands, and children how often do we read about that….. we do not… it is covered up.. these are the very people that should be made examples of
That’s not new news. Cops are trained to maintain front sight and command presence at all times. In other words, if you’re the wife or partner of a cop you’d better plan to be subordinate at all times in his/her presence and not.
What difference does it make? We’re all going to be in hard labor re-education facilities sooner than you think.
The laws and the legal system is designed to protect the rights of the crimminal. Lawyers and judges in the legal system are programed to make sure they do not falsely arrest or accuse the crimminal. The police do the best they can, but lawyers and judges very often put the scum back on the streets. That leaves the victim(you) out in the cold. You must learn to protect yourself.
What about their history from other states?
Sounds good as long as the same policy is used for both men and women. It seems that men are treated more harshly than a women who beats on a man. Look at even when a woman teacher is accused or is found guilty of sexual contact of a student — if they’re to pretty for jail they get probation, this has actually happened. A female teacher just plead no contest to charges last week for gross sexual misconduct with a student — lets see if BDN follows up on what her punishment is. Wonder if it will be as harsh as if a male teacher was guilty of the same crime.
I’m with Walter McKee of Augusta. Innocent/accused people are going to be held in jail for nothing. In my opinion the TWO people involved should BOTH be held while records are being retrieved. There are many cases where these young women are accusing and then taking the young man back and giving him a criminal record in the meantime. If BOTH parties thought they would be held for equal time until the issues at hand were determined………perhaps they would leave each other alone more often. I’m so very much against any type of abuse……..but I could call the police and state that my neighbor assaulted me and he would be taken into custody……….that easy to ruin someone’s life. I have seen it happen throughout the years. Just like when you raise your children and they start tattling on each other…………punish both of them and eventually they learn their boundries.
Any person charged with domestic violence ought to be denied bail and held till they see the judge. If we have zero tolerance in terms of what the police see, then why not hold them till they see the judge?
Its not alright to physically injure anyone and we have laws for that already, but we need more laws because some one is either married or has had a intimate relationship with them . Sounds like another way for the state to make money and the facts are in the Bangor court less than 2 % of all people served with a protection order ever commits physical injury to the person requesting the protection order ! However the courts make so much money by making bail conditions the same as the protection orders they built one room in the new court house just to handle protection orders , they hand them out without verifying that any thing in the plaintiffs complaint is true or is not exaggerated. Once the plaintiff is granted a PO he or she can call the police and declare that the defendant has violated the protection order and the defendant is arrested immediately and taken to jail , without the plaintiff having to prove that the complaint is valid and not just revenge driven. I have read numerous complaints written by various plaintiffs and have found after research that over 80 % 0f them are either totally false or have been exaggerated greatly ! State is not concerned with the truth as PO s generate huge dollars for the state !