Archives for: May 29th, 2014

Carrying Condoms Could Get You Arrested, but NY Vows Change

May 29, 2014

Carrying condoms isn’t illegal anywhere in the country, but if you’re in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time, having this form of contraception could be used as evidence to make a prostitution arrest.

Condom confiscation has been an issue in many major US cities, and in 2012, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch found that police in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and New York were specifically using condoms as evidence of prostitution. This practice has led [...]

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Paul Simon Arrest Highlights Fault in Domestic Violence Laws

May 20, 2014

Domestic Violence

If you were asked which celebrity couple was just arrested on domestic violence charges (before you checked the online news on April 27th), Paul Simon and Edie Brickell probably wouldn’t be the first names that came to mind. The two singers have been married for over 20 years and have three children together. Neither Simon, 72, nor Brickell, 42, have ever faced domestic violence charges before. Neighbors described them as quiet, good people to live near. Yet around 8:20 on [...]

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We Need to Talk about Our Prison Population Problem

May 13, 2014

Drug Crimes

There are a lot of problems with our prison system, but the one I’m referring to in the title of my post is twofold. One, non-violent offenders often receive sentences that are disproportionate to their crime; and two, our prisons have become overcrowded and sometimes even inhumane because of all the non-violent offenders whiling away lengthy sentences behind bars.

Let’s take a look at some of the statistics first. As of 2009, there were 2.23 million Americans serving time [...]

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When Arresting Domestic Abusers Does More Harm than Good

May 12, 2014

Resisting Arrest

Despite decades of law enforcement intervention, domestic violence is still major public concern. To prevent police inaction in response to domestic abuse and ultimately to attempt to lower domestic violence rates, nearly half of the U.S. states have implemented mandatory arrest provisions. While the preferred arrest law instructs the responding officer to consider arrest as the preferred course of action, in the case of mandatory arrest laws, the responding officer is obligated to make a more aggressive intervention and make [...]

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Domestic Violence’s Claws Carve Deep into Children’s Undeveloped Mind

May 6, 2014

Domestic Violence

It’s just a bruise – it will soon disappear.

A blackened eye, a twisted arm, facial scrapes, or a chipped tooth, none of these will leave a permanent mark on your appearance. Even the guilt, the shame, and the constant fear you’re living under will eventually pass, as you “realize” his behavior is triggered by a lot of factors he has no control over. Finally, you come to accept that the stress your partner may be under, his childhood [...]

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