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If one thing is clear after our series of stories detailing the experiences of domestic violence survivors, it is that the system isn’t perfect.
We agree with Sally Jaroszynski, an attorney who has been practicing law for more than 30 years, though, when she says the courts have made strides in what is a tricky and difficult to navigate system.
One of those improvements is the creation of the Integrated Domestic Violence Court, led in Chautauqua County by Judge Stephen Cass. The Integrated Domestic Violence Court allows Cass to hear several different cases or proceedings that may be tied to one domestic violence situation, allowing the court to have a more full picture of a situation.
Yet, at the same time the Integrated Domestic Violence Court can’t handle all of the domestic violence cases that are prosecuted in Chautauqua County. When you’re bailing out a boat with a bucket, it would help to have a second person with a bucket to keep the boat afloat. An argument can be made after hearing people’s stories that an additional IDV judge is warranted in Chautauqua County.
How to handle coercive control – actions that limit someone’s freedom or activities – is another topic that came up repeatedly over the past month. There is a blind spot in state law when it comes to coercive control that the state Legislature needs to address
If one thing is clear after our series of stories detailing the experiences of domestic violence survivors, it is that the system isn’t perfect.
We agree with Sally Jaroszynski, an attorney who has been practicing law for more than 30 years, though, when she says the courts have made strides in what is a tricky and difficult to navigate system.
One of those improvements is the creation of the Integrated Domestic Violence Court, led in Chautauqua County by Judge Stephen Cass. The Integrated Domestic Violence Court allows Cass to hear several different cases or proceedings that may be tied to one domestic violence situation, allowing the court to have a more full picture of a situation.
Yet, at the same time the Integrated Domestic Violence Court can’t handle all of the domestic violence cases that are prosecuted in Chautauqua County. When you’re bailing out a boat with a bucket, it would help to have a second person with a bucket to keep the boat afloat. An argument can be made after hearing people’s stories that an additional IDV judge is warranted in Chautauqua County.
How to handle coercive control – actions that limit someone’s freedom or activities – is another topic that came up repeatedly over the past month. There is a blind spot in state law when it comes to coercive control that the state Legislature needs to address. Kyra’s Law, which is awaiting a decision by Gov. Kathy Hochul after being passed by the legislature this year, would require judges to take coercive control into account when considering child visitation decisions. But there is no standalone statute in New York law that defines or penalizes coercive control, with at least two bills (S.4079 and S.8633) introduced but not passed in the most recent legislative session. That's an oversight that should be remedied given the number of times coercive control was mentioned by recent domestic violence survivors.
We're making strides in the ways our society handles domestic violence. But it's clear that the system is too complex for many whose cases end up in court to navigate themselves. The system has blind spots and it's painfully slow to move cases from introduction to completion. The situation is better than it was, but it can still be better.