Kansas has always had three resonances for me:
. the old saw, Kansas Is Flat As A Pancake (flatter, really--university topographers proved it in '03),
. Dorothy ("and your little dog, too"), and for
.arguably the most defining civil rights case of my lifetime, the landmark 1954 Topeka school integration case, Brown v. Board of Education.
Now Kansas has one more claim on me. Perhaps on you, too--
The Topeka City Council, stemming from what began as a typical budget discussion, has decided in its wisdom, by a 7-3 vote, to decriminalize domestic violence in order to save taxpayers some money. For some time there had been wrangling over who should pay for what goes into taking domestic violence calls, who should respond, who should prosecute. Surrounding Shawnee County said Topeka should pay; Topeka has been saying the county oughta cough up the pancake dough. Stuck in the cruel middle, of course, are all the abused women of both jurisdictions.
The rather insane vote came two nights ago: the law that makes domestic violence a crime has been repealed. Some Topekans think theCity Council's vote will force county prosecutors to step up to the pancake plate. So far, they've whiffed. Since the wrangling began in September, eighteen people have been arrested for domestic violence and promptly released. No charges have been filed. (Last year over 400 such cases came to official attention in the county.)
To say the least, domestic violence victims' advocates in The Pancake State have expressed the outrage I'm betting some of you reading this are feeling now. The New York Times quotes Joyce Grover, executive director of the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence as saying, "To have public officials point fingers while victims are trying to figure out who will protect them is...stunning." (You can fill-in an appropriate adverb.)
The Times report goes on to say that "Becky Dickinson, a program director with the Y.W.C.A., which is the primary provider of services for victims of domestic violence in the county, said there was concern that the lack of charges for those being arrested for...domestic violence...would encourage retaliation." You think?
While the Topeka City Council and Shawnee County officials continue to point fingers at one another for this disgrace, women continue to be harmed without formal recourse. Perhaps the city and county will reconcile their budget fight by forcing domestic violence victims to pay for police and prosecutors out-of-pocket. Perhaps all the women there will sign up for ju-jitsu, earn black belts overnight, and buy more guns. Or, perhaps women there will have to wait for a Dorothy Gale Twister to blow these benighted public servants straight to hell.
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Poor Woman
Chicken Mãâàn
Dianne Schuch - Lindsey
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Deborah Méndez Wilson
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Comments
By the way, have you ever lived anywhere that flat? I have. I wondered what happened when it rained and there was no downhill. Then it rained, There were very shallow puddles in cornfields that were yards and yards across.
As to Topekan women, one reason I and I am certain others are writing abt this is to oprevent the disaster that you rightly say could occur. I am hoping there's embarrassment enough there so they'll reverse this idiocy.
Welcome to America
HUGGGGGG
How...what...
I was born in Kansas City. Spent most of my first 19 years in Kansas. And I have never been ashamed and dumbfounded like I am now.
Lezlie
Go ahead and tax me--I LIKE civilization!
rated
After reading some of the comments here though, I need to point out two things:
1. Despite the imression given by the title to this post, Kansas has not decriminalized domestic abuse. One municipality in Kansas, representing around 5% of the population, has done so.
2. To those who think Kansas is one continuous stretch of "flat as a pancake" terrain: Come hiking a few miles with me in the Flint Hills, then tell me how flat it is. The truth is that the flattest state is Louisiana, followed closely by Illinois and Florida, yet somehow whenever the topic of flatness comes up people start yapping about Kansas.
I realize it's satisfying to pick out a place and ridicule it based on the received wisdom about how things are there - that Kansas is full of people who approve of domestic abuse, for instance, or that it's the flattest place there is - but to do so is ultimately just another form of prejudice and stereotyping. Heck, there are even Kansas residents who don't belong to the John Birch Society; I've met one or two of them myself. ;-)
:)
Another way to look at this issue is that D.V. laws vary widely from state to state. California's is fairly restrictive, and it became so for financial reasons. Any mention of the elements of the crime by the victim bring about mandatory arrest and a 25,000 bail (Circa 1994. May be higher now.) People being taken down to the pokey were frequently released the same night, or victims were pleading for the offender to not be arrested in the first place. Cops would leave, victims would become murder victims, and then the cities got sued. As a result of losing so many lawsuits, rather than lives, the state made the arrests mandatory and the bail higher than most. Now for financial reasons, a city wants to lower the level of its priority. Either way, money tends to drive the decision. This is a major flaw in how we evaluate social justice concerns and crime emergencies in this society. Slavery existed for financial reasons, was abolished primarily for financial reasons. We miss the boat when we fail to cite social justice as the main motivation for protecting those who need to be protected.
Damn, it's not. OK, well, a couple of things. First, I'm compelled to gently point out that thstereotypepe of male on female (only) violencpervadeses here with very little (if any - I didn't read every comment) exception. Believe me, while men may be more effective at it, there are many cases of violent women who do insane stuff and get away with it because very few guys will ever call the cops. I really hope that among adults who've lived a bit, that's not even in question, right?...
Secondly, while when I stayed in Kansas for a short time, there was not much to do and bar fighting seemed to be an accepted way to pass a Friday or Saturday evening for many of the young strappfarm boysboys in town, I also have to say that I met some of the nicest, most hospitable and generous folks ever there. Midwestwest seems to be good for that, so let's not think badly of Kansans.
Finally... Oh my gawd, is this a glimpse of the pathetic way this country is going to go down the toilet, one dumb group of pathetic pols at a time (and one huge one in Washington)?
Rated. Sigh.
These DV laws have a huge financial backdrop. There is another side to this story, I'm sure.
Another example of how we need to separate the good and economically scared folks of the Tea Party from the Klan/Birchers who are using Fear and Unbalanced to frighten them into regressive ideas.
Ballers for Kansas!!!
"Hey, wife abusers! Move to Kansas! You can kick the shit out of her here, and we won't do a thing!"
"Topeka, Kansas! Land of Free Abusers!"
"Want to abuse your wife? Come here to Kansas! You can kick the living crap out of her in the street, and we won't do a darned thing! Yay, Kansas!"
Kansas: The Official State of Domestic Abuse
"Want to beat her? Come on down to Topeka! Want to slap the bitch that gives you sass? Come on down to Topeka, Kans-ASS!"
See? These things write themselves, don't they? Go to Cafe Express. Create a few coffee cups. Send them to the council.
"Beat Your Bitch In Kansas!"
See? Writes itself really. You want them to change this? Make them PAY through the time-honored way of humiliation and shame. Also, how shitty will they look on the nightly news? That's the way to go. Seriously.
Sheesh. Every time I think things can't get any more stupid, people always prove me wrong.
In the entire State of Idaho the law now allows medical insurance companies consider past injury as a result of domestic abuse a "pre-existing condition" for exclusion.
Strange, in some places the smartest thing a woman can now do is just have one night stands.
R on a breeze
On another note. Kansas is not entirely flat as a pancake. Whole mid-northern region is hilly, extending along the eastern 1/3 to Oklahoma. It is a beautiful state, regardless of being the butt of many jokes through the greater part of the 20th and into the 21st Century.
We have high rates of domestic and child abuse here too because Idaho Legislators are not opposed to predators. It seems clear the Topeka City Council members don't mind predators wandering around free. It's a very slippery slope indeed.
Perhaps one of their spouses will take advantage of the opportunity to bash one of them in the head with a skillet since they don't think it's a real crime. I'm sure it would fall under "just trying to knock some sense into them." I can only hope.