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The domestic violence industry operates under the cloak of secrecy and anonymity, maintaining such policies are necessary to shield victims from their abusers. But every now and then a crack appears in the façade, revealing a sordid panorama of corruption, fraud, and abuse. On February 28, 2007 the Naples, Fla. citizenry opened their morning newspapers to the jolting headline, "CEO Out at Women's Shelter: Investigation into Battery Complaint Prompts Departure." Over the next several months, details would spill out of a woman's rights activist who had evolved into a self-serving "tyrant," as one of her colleagues later described her. The...

The domestic violence industry operates under the cloak of secrecy and anonymity, maintaining such policies are necessary to shield victims from their abusers. But every now and then a crack appears in the façade, revealing a sordid panorama of corruption, fraud, and abuse. On February 28, 2007 the Naples, Fla. citizenry opened their morning newspapers to the jolting headline, “CEO Out at Women’s Shelter: Investigation into Battery Complaint Prompts Departure.” Over the next several months,...

A Hudson County trial judge has issued a very interesting decision recently regarding a litigant's claim that the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:25-17 to 35, is violative of the NJ and US Constitutions. The argument was that because domestic violence proceedings may result in serious consequences by the issuance of a Final Restraining Order (i.e. possible jail sentence for future violations; removal of all weapons and inability to obtain weapons in the future; fines; registry on a list of offenders), the Chancery court with equity jurisdiction should not hear these matters. The decision should rest with a jury...

VIDEO: Watch Fox 5's coverageA man being sought for shooting and killing his estranged wife to death while she watched one of their children swim at a Montclair YMCA had been ordered in October to have no contact with her. Kenneth A. Duckett was under a restraining order that specified no contact with Monica Paul, but allowed him to have visitation rights with their two children, said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.  "Basically, it was like a curbside drop-off," Loriquet said. The couple had separated in August, but it was unclear when they had...

This story encapsulates many of the problems with the modern domestic violence system--it's anti-male bias, it's insistence on holding only men accountable and sweeping female violence under the rug, and "Zero Tolerance"-style idiocy. In this case, the woman says she was just as responsible as her ex was for the domestic violence incident, yet he's the one in jail. Then when she visits him, he's sentenced to serve nine months in jail because he violated his restraining order. How? By not refusing to see her when she visited him in jail! The best line in the story is this: Asked...

The words "domestic violence" typically invite images of bruised women and children -- and male perpetrators. But the real picture of domestic violence isn't so clear-cut. And the solution to family violence is far more complex than our current criminal justice approach can handle. For about 30 years now, we've been throwing money and punishment at domestic violence with not enough to show for it. Estimates are that more than 32 million Americans are affected by domestic violence each year, with many of those in need of help never reporting their abuse. These are among the important findings of Linda...

The domestic violence industry is reeling from a recent series of high-profile scandals, leaving abuse workers to wonder how things could have possibly gone so wrong. First the Sex. Recently a woman described her stay at an abuse shelter. In shocking detail, she recounts how threats and bullying had become commonplace among the shelter residents. Once a resident punched her forearm, screaming at her, "bitch!" One night another woman assaulted her, injuring her back and forcing her to seek medical attention. The woman also recounted lesbian advances by a shelter employee. "If you become her girlfriend, you will be treated...

...he won't criticize her for her 'personal habits.' "Andrew Brownson, one of the Republicans challenging Allen, said it would not be appropriate to ask or force her to resign for her 'personal habits.'"'I don't believe in that,' said Brownson."According to the UPI, "Assemblywoman Francis Allen (pictured), R-Las Vegas, is accused of using a steak knife to stab Paul Maineri in the forearm...[Allen] said she stabbed her husband because he embarrassed her in front of friends...Maineri told police his wife of seven weeks refused to get help for him so he drove himself to the hospital." Nevertheless, Allen's male colleagues don't...

Domestic violence can happen to men, not only to women, according to Group Health research in the June American Journal of Preventive Medicine. "Domestic violence in men is under-studied and often hidden--much as it was in women 10 years ago," said study leader Robert J. Reid, MD, PhD, an associate investigator at the Group Health Center for Health Studies. "We want abused men to know they're not alone." His findings confirm some common beliefs but also debunk five myths about abuse in men: Myth 1: Few men experience domestic violence. Many do. In-depth phone interviews with over 400 randomly sampled...

LOS ANGELES - A man with a semiautomatic rifle opened fire at a church festival Saturday, wounding his ex-wife and two bystanders before festival-goers grabbed him and held him for police, authorities and a church official said. Gunfire rang out on a grassy field where the festival was being set up at the St. John Baptist de la Salle Roman Catholic parish shortly before 11 a.m., said police Capt. Steven Ruiz. "We believe this is an isolated incident, a domestic-violence dispute," he said. Father Robert Milbauer, the parish's pastor, said a woman injured in the attack was the gunman's ex-wife....

KUSI reporter Rod Luck has been placed on an extended leave of absence after his recent arrest. He was arrested Friday in San Francisco on misdemeanor domestic violence and battery charges. Luck is accused of punching his girlfriend in the mouth while staying at a hotel. KUSI News Director Steve Cohen says there's no timeline for the leave of absence. Luck is a live reporter for Good Morning San Diego and Inside San Diego. He's been at KUSI since 1990.

Apparently the filming of the new James Bond movie Quantum of Silence is being plagued with problems. While listening to McIntyre In The Morning on KABC in Los Angeles this morning, I was dismayed when KABC entertainment reporter Debra Mark (pictured) lightly and semi-laughingly mentioned that one of the film crew had been "stabbed in a domestic dispute." In fact, according to the UPI article she was reading from (see below), the man almost died. Host Doug McIntyre (pictured below) and co-host Rob Marenko, both normally reasonable men, seemed mildly amused, too. All together now--"If a wife was stabbed and...

Excerpt - Linux visionary Hans Reiser has been convicted of first-degree murder for killing his estranged wife in 2006 and faces life imprisonment. Reiser, founder of Namesys which develops the Linux-based Reiser file systems, was charged with the deliberate and premeditated murder of Nina Reiser by an Oakland, California courthouse after an almost six-month trial. The fate of the troubled ReiserFS and Reiser4 file systems may be sealed, following media reports that Namesys has ceased commercial activity and the rapid loss of support for the latter system in the open source community. ReiserFS was the first journaling file system included...

On Saturday, they were exchanging their wedding vows. But soon, they were exchanging blows -- with each other as well as with members of another wedding party. "It was pretty wild," said Ross police Sgt. Dave Syska of a post-wedding brawl that landed a bride and groom in the Allegheny County Jail on their wedding night and left two good Samaritans with injuries. Dr. David M. Wielechowski, 32, of Shaler, a dentist, and his bride, the former Christa Vattimo, 25, each were charged with simple assault, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. She also was charged with public drunkenness. According to...

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The 16-year-old girl whose call for help sparked a massive raid at the FLDS compound in Texas said her spiritual husband had recently broken her ribs in a beating and she feared for her life, a newly-released document said. In a March 29 call at 11:32 p.m. to an unnamed agency, the girl spoke quietly on a cell phone and said she feared being overheard, the document said. She said she had been spiritually married to a man who was about 49 years old after her arrival at the YFZ Ranch three years earlier, and was...

Illinois millionaire Bill Foster said to be holding ex-wife “hostage”Portraying a warm and fuzzy family image is nothing new for politicians seeking to curry favor with voters. But Illinois Democrat Bill Foster, seeking election to Congress in the district once held by former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, has taken things a step further – boasting on his campaign website of the amicable relationship he enjoys with his ex-wife, who divorced him in 1996. “Bill and Ann are both very proud of remaining on good terms and making things as easy as possible for their kids,” Foster wrote on his...

"'If anything good can come out of this tragedy, it is that it woke people up that extreme violence between women is possible,' said Morgan Lynn, a staff attorney with Women Empowered Against Violence, or WEAVE, a District-based advocacy group. 'There are a lot of myths in the lesbian community that women don't hurt each other.'"Brown's case is proof that they do." The Washington Post does not have a good record on domestic violence reporting, generally propagating the "85% of domestic violence is committed by men" myth. To read one example of their stilted coverage of the issue, see my...

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Hutchinson man is on trial this week on charges he put his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son in a hot clothes dryer. In a videotaped interview with detectives shown in court Wednesday, Aron Pritchard said he put the children in the dryer to show them they could have a good time without much money. An hour later, the dryer had become hot and the boy had second-degree burns.

Federal lawsuit charges parts of the Violence against Women Act are unconstitutional.Attorney Roy Den Hollander filed on February 14th, a suit in the U.S. Southern District Court of N.Y. attacking sections of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and other U.S. statutes for violating the Constitutional rights of American men who marry alien females. The defendants are the United States of America, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office of Immigration Review, No. 08 CV 01521. Roy Den Hollander is the sole plaintiff. Hollander has also sued in a New York State court to have Ladies Nights declared...

OCALA, Fla. -- A 77-year-old man told a deputy he roughed up his 74-year-old wife because he was upset about the high cost of gas for driving her to and from dialysis treatments, according to police. Authorities say 77-year-old Richard Close has been charged with aggravated battery and battery on a person over 65. Authorities said Richard Close was charged with aggravated battery and battery on a person over 65. Close said that his life turned upside down when doctors in Illinois placed his wife on kidney dialysis. Over the Christmas holidays, the retired mechanic said his wife of 26...

MARION COUNTY, Fla. -- A Marion County man who opened fire on his wife bought the shotgun used in the crime just hours earlier at a nearby Wal-Mart. He didn't have to wait to get the gun. He passed a mandatory background check in the store and walked right out with it. The man then went back into the store and bought some shotgun shells. Detectives said he then went home and murdered his wife. Cheryl Schleher heard a knock at the door Monday night around 11 o'clock. It was her neighbor, Johnny High. "My husband went out there and...

A British woman who regularly visits prison inmates fell in love with one, and it almost got her killed, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports. The West Yorkshire woman, whose identity was not released, fell for a convicted rapist serving a life sentence and would visit him for several hours every few weeks. After the prisoner was released on parole to a hostel, he began spending weekends at her home and they eventually became engaged, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports. "For the first six months things went very well," the woman told a jury, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports. "He was...

Former state worker Eugene Zapata has confessed to strangling his wife more than 31 years ago, dumping her body in a wooded area near Madison and eventually moving it to the Juneau County Landfill after detectives reopened an investigation into the case. While there has been no sign of Jeanette Zapata, 36, since she disappeared on Oct. 11, 1976, her many family and friends in the Madison area now know for certain that her husband Eugene killed her and how he disposed of her body. It is little consolation for those who wondered for more than three decades what became...

It has now been reported that has now learned that a neurologist at the hospital where O.J. Simpson’s girlfriend Christie Prody is being treated has told police her injuries are consistent with an assault, not a fall. O.J. Simpson's long-time girlfriend has severe injuries that are consistent with an assault, rather than simply a fall. Christie Prody, 32, remains hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Miami and may be facing brain surgery. The National Enquirer broke the story yesterday of Prody's injuries and revealed that O.J. was questioned by police detectives at his home in Florida. The police are still investigating.

Real Valentines by: Samantha Soller, February 08, 2008 Lewisburg, Penn. – The Bucknell University Conservatives Club will be selling carnations and roses to benefit Susquehanna Valley Women in Transition, a shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Conservatives Club will take orders for flowers February 11, 12, and 13 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. The sale will take place on the ground floor of the Langone Center at Bucknell University. Roses cost $6 each; carnations cost $2 each. The flowers will be delivered by members of the club in suit and tie on Valentine’s Day. Carnations...

If you want to know how severely out of touch some judges are with society, check out the sentence a Portage la Prairie man got this week. Daniel Roy, 37, is a repeat, violent offender who beat the crap out of his girlfriend so badly, she had to spend five days in hospital. At the time of the attack, he was on probation for an earlier assault against his girlfriend and had a court order to stay away from her. None of which seems to matter in our courts these days. Instead, we have touchy-feely judges who go out of...

January 31, 2008 -- An expert on domestic violence, who has appeared on several national TV shows, was busted for roughing up his wife, Florida officials said yesterday. Cops near Tampa responded to the home of Dean Tong, 51, after receiving a frantic call from his wife the night of Jan. 21, according to law-enforcement records. Tong was booked for alleged domestic violence and tampering with a witness. He was released on $1,000 bail.

It's a case that gives entirely new meaning to the phrase "vehicular homicide." After a night of drinking at a Silver Lake club, police say, Carlos Gutierrez got so angry at his girlfriend and his uncle early Monday morning that he ordered them out of his car and into a pounding rainstorm. Then he threatened to run them over. Los Angeles Police Department investigators say it's unlikely that either Gutierrez's girlfriend or his uncle thought the 25-year-old would actually run them down, but according to police, that's exactly what happened. As the pair began walking away from the car, Gutierrez...

When Curtis Williams took the field for the Huskies' 2000 season opener, the University of Washington's media guide described him like this: Senior, strong safety, 5-foot-10, 200 pounds. Named, in 1999, the team's best hitter. Led team in solo tackles. Went to high school in Fresno, Calif., where he was a top recruit. The seventh of eight kids. Pursuing a degree in American ethnic studies. Here's what the media guide didn't say: When Williams played against Idaho, he had a warrant out for his arrest. He'd been arrested every year he was here: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. He was...

An Iowahawk Special Investigative ReportWith Statistical Guidance from the New York TimesA Denver newspaper columnist is arrested for stalking a story subject. In Cincinnati, a television reporter is arrested on charges of child molestation. A North Carolina newspaper reporter is arrested for harassing a local woman. A drunken Chicago Sun-Times columnist and editorial board member is arrested for wife beating. A Baltimore newspaper editor is arrested for threatening neighbors with a shotgun. In Florida, one TV reporter is arrested for DUI, while another is charged with carrying a gun into a high school. A Philadelphia news anchorwoman goes on a...

Neil MacFarquahar of the New York Times artfully navigates politically sensitive waters with an article on the problem of wife-beating among Muslims in the United States. The general question, simply put, is how to admit a pattern of outrageous behavior by designated victim groups, without provoking a serious reaction of outrage. So the reportage is artfully constructed to imply that solution as well as the problem lie within Islam, and non-Muslims have a minor role, if any, to play. Thus, the article begins with insensitive Americans failing to accommodate the special needs of battered women who happen to be Muslim:...

(Mobile, Ala.) January 2 -- A local pastor was arrested by the Daphne Police Department for Domestic Violence Wednesday. David Harrison is the pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Daphne. Harrison made bond which was set at $1,000 dollars and has been released from the Daphne City Jail.

Background: For fathers and the children who love them and need them, Massachusetts sometimes looks a lot like feminist hell. In this series, Ned Holstein, Executive Director of Fathers & Families, points to four um...problematic...Massachusetts family law bills. The first three bills Holstein cites are Massachusetts HB 113, HB 1396 and HB 92--to learn more, see my blog posts Amazing New Bill Says Dads Can Be Arrested for Leaving the State, Under New Bill, Restraining Orders Can Be Extended Without Notice and Don't Want Your Baby? Call Massachusetts' New 'Abandon Your Baby Pickup Service'. On a related note, also see...

Eagle County Sheriff’s Office P.O. Box 359 Eagle, CO 81631 (970)376-7000 Contact: Public Information Officer Shannon Cordingly  Press Release EDWARDS, CO - On December 20, 2007 at approximately 11:40pm, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) arrested Robert Hernreich, age 62 of Edwards charging him with Domestic Violence, two counts of Second Degree Criminal Trespass, and Harassment, all misdemeanor charges. The arrest stemmed from a 911 call placed on December 20, 2007 at approximately 11:14pm reporting a domestic in progress. Henreich was released from the Eagle County Detention on a personal recognizance bond and is due back in court on...

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. -- A verdict of second-degree murder has been reported in the trial of Stephen Grant, accused of killing and dismembering his wife, Tara. Stay with ClickOnDetroit.com and Local 4 for more on this developing story. Grant will be back in court for sentencing on Feb. 21 2008. Watch Live As Stephen Grant Verdict is Announced Court officials have not released the name of the detained reporter at this time. Judge Druzinski said she will decide whether to press charges on the reporter at a later time. Earlier in the day, the jury asked the judge to provide...

'My Baby Is Just An Angel' Detroit mother talks about the day her daughter saved her lifePOSTED: 4:35 pm EST December 17, 2007 DETROIT -- As the gunman was about to open fire, 7-year-old Alexis Goggins lunged from the back seat of the SUV and threw herself across her mom, crying, "Don't hurt my mother!" Six bullets from the 9 mm handgun slammed into Alexis, one piercing her right eye. Two slugs hit her mother. Alexis' mother pulled through. But two weeks later, Alexis lies in critical condition, blind in one eye. And to her classmates and many people in...

My new co-authored column, Biden’s Misguided S1515 Will Exacerbate Domestic Violence System’s Problems (Philadelphia Daily News, 12/7/07), criticizes a new bill which will enlist 100,000 volunteer attorneys to help purportedly abused women win custody of their children from their alleged abusers. Our principle objection to the bill is that there is no mechanism within it to distinguish between false accusations and legitimate ones. The National Organization for Women is currently running a campaign in support of the bill. The bill is also supported by the American Bar Association and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. The bill can be seen here....

No other topics I write about so consistently provoke passionate personal response as those dealing with systemic discrimination against men. When, for example, I point out double standards for boys and girls in the health care system, or expose the use of bogus statistics around domestic violence, my inbox fills with male gratitude simply for acknowledging an obvious fact: Our culture is profoundly misandric.Of the myriad forms of discrimination men cite, one looms over the rest: The egregious treatment meted out to fathers in the throes of contested child custody following the "no-fault" divorces most of them did not...

NEW YORK, November 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com)--A study published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Urban Health, which is published by the New York Academy of Medicine, has found that over 32% of active homosexuals report that they have suffered "abuse" by one or more "partners" during the course of their lives (see report abstract at http://www.springerlink.com/content/r6q02560022h4276/?=eec72...). According to the study, which surveyed sexually active homosexuals and bisexuals in the Chicago area, 19.2% reported physical violence, which the survey characterizes as "hit, kicked, shoved, burned, cut, or otherwise physically hurt".  Another 18.5% reported "unwanted sexual activity" --...

Background: Conscientious Virginia judge James Michael Shull, who smoked out a woman who sought to extend a restraining order based on false charges of domestic violence, was just removed from the bench by this Virginia Supreme Court ruling. I have examined the evidence in this case and it is clear to me that Shull is being railroaded. The case provides a sad but excellent example of what can happen to judges who take their responsibilities seriously when adjudicating domestic violence claims. Shull’s problems stem from a case which came before him on December 15, 2006. In that case, Tammy G....

Background: In June 2006, Darren Mack, a wealthy Nevada father who was involved in a divorce, stabbed his estranged wife to death and then executed a well-planned murder attempt on a Nevada judge. Mack shot and wounded the judge but failed to kill him. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, when police searched Mack's residence they found he "had bombmaking materials in his bedroom" as well as "several boxes of firearm ammunition." At the time of Mack’s murder spree, I wrote: “I condemn without qualification the crimes allegedly committed by Darren Mack in Nevada last week. Mack was angered by his...

On numerous occasions I've discussed the ways the taxpayer-funded domestic violence industry vilifies men and promotes unfair and misleading stereotypes about domestic violence. "Restaurant," an amazing domestic violence public service ad from HomeFront, a Canadian domestic violence agency, captures perfectly the way the domestic violence industry views and portrays men. To watch the ad, click here. Apparently the ad was blocked from airing on TV by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. HomeFront uses the ads in their trainings and has them on their website, and the ads are used in DV seminars. The ads in this series portray only...

Joan Finch suspected her husband was having an episode of post-traumatic stress and was worried that he could harm family members or himself. Since he had access to a gun, she obtained a protective order from Morro Bay police Sunday. Morro Bay police confirmed that they issued a protective order.

Fresno Police are investigating an officer involved shooting which occurred in Northwest Fresno on Monday.

The Violence Policy Center (VPC) Tuesday released "When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2005 Homicide Data." This annual report details national and state-by-state information on female homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender. The VPC releases the study each year to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. In 2005, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report, 1,858 females were murdered by males in single victim/single offender incidents. Where weapon use could be determined, firearms were the most common weapon used by males to murder...

Attention, ladies of the world: The U.S. Congress has now granted you the Keys to Kingdom that will unlock the door to U.S. citizenship, a good-paying job, and tons of free services. Here's how it works. First, get into the United States, anyway you can. If you're going to do it legally, a Temporary Worker visa is the easiest way. But why bother with the paperwork, just walk across the border when they're looking the other way! Next, you need to find a man. Do it quickly before they can deport you. And preferably a guy who can't afford his...

"The monster that you have painted for the world to see, I don't think that monster existed...for everything you've accused him of, there never was proof, just accusations. I think that's sad because he can't speak for himself."-- Diane Winkler, Matthew Winkler's motherMy new co-authored column, No child custody for husband-killer Mary Winkler (World Net Daily, 9/14/07), argues that Winkler got off with a slap on the wrist, is psychologically disturbed, and shouldn't be granted custody of her three children. No child custody for husband-killer Mary Winkler By Glenn Sacks and Ned Holstein, M.D. A killer shoots his spouse in...

I've noted on countless occasions that when a woman commits domestic violence, we don't call it "domestic violence." In this story, Rebecca Harvey allegedly rammed her ex-husband's car while their three children were in his car. She's been arrested, and is being charged with felony charge of reckless conduct and three misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child. I'm sure she will probably be sentenced to a fine of at least $25 and a minimum of a half hour of community service. It will hurt her in family court, too--possible sanctions include a disapproving look from the judge....

Mary Winkler of Selmer, Tennessee was set free last week. Winkler had admitted to gunning down her husband, the popular town preacher, in March 2006 while he was in bed asleep. As he lay dying with blood foaming from his mouth, the man of the cloth incredulously asked her, "Why?" With that, Mary packed their three daughters into the car and drove down to Alabama for a beachside vacation. If Mrs. Winkler had been convicted of intentional murder, she could have been sentenced to 60 years of hard time. But all she got was 67 days in a mental health...

Aug. 21, 2007, 7:49AM Police kill gunman at church, find wife's body By DALE LEZON and JENNIFER LEAHY Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle A man who authorities say killed his estranged wife Monday and then drove to a West University church with his spouse's body in the car was fatally wounded after opening fire on police, the Houston Police Department said. Less than an hour after gunning his wife down as she exited a shuttle bus near the Parque View Apartments in the 1800 block of El Paseo, authorities said the man entered St. Mark's Episcopal Church about 6 p.m. and...