Posted March 13, 2012 at 10:29pm in politics
New Hampshire GOP Proposes Bill That Will Prevent Police from Protecting Domestic Abuse Victims
righteousblasphemy:thepoliticalfreakshow:
Since the 1970s, New Hampshire police have operated under a progressive policy for handling domestic violence cases that has saved countless lives. Under current law the presumption is that an arrest will be made when police observe evidence of abuse. They have a large degree of discretion and don’t need to witness the assault firsthand or obtain a legal warrant before they can separate the alleged attacker from his victim.
All that will change if Republicans get their way. The state’s GOP legislators are pushing two bills that will reverse a half century of progress, the Concord Monitor reports:
Domestic violence is no longer taken lightly legally or by society. That’s the way it should be, but two bills under consideration by this most unusual of legislatures, would undo that progress and put lives in danger. Both deserve a speedy defeat.
House Bill 1581 would turn the clock back 40 years to an age when a police officer could not make an arrest in a domestic violence case without first getting a warrant unless he or she actually witnessed the crime. That’s an exceedingly dangerous change. Consider the following scenario, one outlined for lawmakers by retired Henniker police chief Tim Russell:
An officer is called to a home where she sees clear evidence that an assault has occurred. The furniture is overturned, the children are sobbing, and the face of the woman of the house is bruised and bleeding. It’s obvious who the assailant was, but the officer arrived after the assault occurred. It’s a small department, and no one else on the force is available to keep the peace until the officer finds a judge or justice of the peace to issue a warrant. The officer leaves, and the abuser renews his attack with even more ferocity, punishing his victim for having called for help. […]
It’s impossible to say how many lives the policy, in place since the 1970s, has saved or how many injuries it’s prevented. If they adopt House Bill 1581, lawmakers might find out, but the price paid could be extraordinarily high.
The other bill Republicans have proposed, HB 1608, limits judges’ ability to order the arrest of someone who has violated a domestic violence restraining order by contacting or abusing the person named in the order. It would also prevent judges from ordering defendants to surrender their weapons or block them from buying guns.
Police say the bill stops them from intervening to protect victims. For instance, they would be stripped of their power to arrest someone who is threatening to use violence against a victim or child. It’s unclear why New Hampshire Republicans have set their sights on repealing protections for abuse victims when promised to focus on economic priorities.
(Source: thepoliticalfreakshow, via lovingthebeautifulyou)
![thedailywhat:
Photo of the Day: Members of the Polish opposition party Palikot’s Movement held up Guy Fawkes masks in the Sejm today to protest their government’s recent passage of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
[reddit.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyfasmSAWE1qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
Photo of the Day: Members of the Polish opposition party Palikot’s Movement held up Guy Fawkes masks in the Sejm today to protest their government’s recent passage of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
[reddit.]
In which the "Fox & Friends" crew doesn't challenge Hank Williams Jr. when he likens President Obama to Hitler. (Via Mediaite)
Moment in question is around 1:30 of a 5:54 segment.
Instead of challenging him on his inflammatory rhetoric, Steve Doocy moves right along to talking about Herman Cain. Brilliant deflection!
President Obama doesn’t take mulligans when he plays golf. The same cannot be said for the way he governs. Just weeks after negotiations over the debt limit hobbled the nation and his presidency, Obama appeared in the Rose Garden on Monday to do what he had not done before: He laid out a specific plan for deficit reductions, including more than $1 trillion in new taxes, and promised to veto any plan that cut entitlements without raising taxes on wealthier Americans and corporations.
In place of general statements about “balance” and “compromise,” Obama proposed $310 billion in new cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs, $270 billion in other cuts and reforms, and $1.5 trillion in new tax revenue that Obama said would be borne mainly by the wealthiest Americans and corporations. The President spent much of July publicly minimizing the differences between himself and Republican House Speaker John Boehner as he chased after an elusive “grand bargain” on deficit reduction. But now he described a sharp contrast, and offered two ultimatums: First, the promise to allow all the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire at the end of 2012 if Congress cannot reach a tax reform agreement, and secondly, a promise to veto any bill that takes a dime from Medicare beneficiaries without raising taxes on the wealthy and large corporations.
“Middle class families should not pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires,” Obama said, laying out a message that will likely carry him through next year’s election. “That’s pretty straightforward. It’s hard to argue against that.”
It was a speech designed to shift the debate over spending and taxation onto Democratic turf, away from the debate on spending toward a debate on what is fair for the middle class. “Anybody who says we can’t change the tax code to correct that,” he continued, “anyone who has signed some pledge to protect every single tax loophole so long as they live, they should be called out. They should have to defend that unfairness, explain why somebody who’s making $50 million a year in the financial markets should be paying 15% on their taxes when a teacher making $50,000 a year is paying more than that, paying a higher rate. They ought to have to answer for that.”
Obama went so far as to name names, calling out his old negotiating partner, Boehner, for laying down his own iron clad marker, by promising not to raise taxes. “The Speaker says we can’t have it ‘My way or the highway’ and then basically says ‘My way or the highway,’” Obama said. “That’s not smart. It’s not right.”
