Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor has created a firestorm of controversy in Topeka, Kansas by announcing that his office will no longer prosecute domestic abuse cases and other misdemeanors due to a lack of funds. Notably, Taylor was faced with a 10 percent budget cut, but elected to simply bar prosecution of crimes like domestic abuse.
Ten percent is a significant cut, but this seems rather draconian and dramatic as a response. I wonder, if the cuts continue, if Taylor will be drawing the line at first-degree murder and send those second-degree cases to mediation.
According to this report, Taylor gave city officials an offer after the outcry: give me $350,000 and I will start prosecuting domestic abuse and other crimes again. The city is trying to take the money out of the jail budget.
In the meantime, Topeka has shot to the top of the list for spouse abusers as the one number vacation spot of the nation.
Source: Fox4KC
So “Chief” sounds like an abuser himself. Sounds like my daughter’s ex boyfriend, all of whose relationships seem to end in orders of protection being taken out against him, who never takes responsibility for his actions, who “rescues” his love-OBJECTS, remakes them, and turns against them, degrades them on his blog, and spews racist hate on his secret web page. Then when she discovers who he really is and gets out, he stalks her, calls her, emails her, comes to her house, tries to break her windows, blabs out all her secrets to all her Facebook friends…..Refuses to let her break up with him. For this kind of guy, the police can help. Anyone who marries a loser like this would only get grief and beatings and psychological damage. For the police and legal system to say that WOMEN (most victims of abuse) are NOT WORTH defending…..well, there you have the end of our civilization. WTF happened to you, Kansas?
You sound like an idiot. To call someone an abuser without knowing them shows your IQ. The type of person that you describe deserves the police to be called on them but that is a rare situation. Some women call the cops and say” “He hit me” just because the man wants to end the relationship. Most DV cases can be solved with a little counseling or nothing at all. States want dummies such as yourself to think that men are routinely beating up women so they can get more DV funding from the government. DV is not in any kind of crises, DV is a business, an industry that fools like you feed into Wake up retard……
I think he realizes that 95% of domestic abuse cases are trumped up and that is why he decided not to prosecute them. I think that is a smart move and will stop the break up of a lot of families.
You get what you pay for.
someone needs to tell this da to go read sites like behind the blue wall and until death do us part. those 2 sites alone might change his mind. seeing as how the blue wall tells about spouses male and female killed by their law enforcement spouses/ until death do us part also tells the stories of civilians killed by their male or female spouses who just couldnt take the word no!!, its over, or the everyday beatings that some of them endured for years, what i love about both sites. is they tell the stories from both sides
Elaine M.,
This is an abomination….Generally the city will charge these cases and keep the money….After the second one it generally gets to the county level…It is the act that is punished…apparently the monetary penalty did not deter them…..
If I recall statistics…Alcohol and/or Drugs were involved in almost every case….There is always the exception….I think that this is the part that needs to be changed….I also think that the actors need to be charged as well…regardless of male or female…By the time that a female is charged things get out of hand pretty bad….Most men and cops are reluctant to charge a female…Domestic Assault is a two way street…..and should be criminally treated no different than what it is…
Thank you for the update….
Topeka, Kansas City Council Considers Decriminalizing Domestic Violence To Save Money
Think Progress, October 6, 2011
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/10/06/338461/topeka-kansas-city-council-considers-decriminalizing-domestic-violence-to-save-money/
Excerpt:
Faced with their worst budget crises since the Great Depression, states and cities have resorted to increasingly desperate measures to cut costs. State and local governments have laid off teachers, slashed Medicaid funding, and even started unpaving roads and turning off streetlights.
But perhaps the most shocking idea to save money is being debated right now by the City Council of Topeka, Kansas. The city could repeal an ordinance banning domestic violence because some say the cost of prosecuting those cases is just too high:
Last night, in between approving city expenditures and other routine agenda items, the Topeka, Kansas City Council debated one rather controversial one: decriminalizing domestic violence.
Here’s what happened: Last month, the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office, facing a 10% budget cut, announced that the county would no longer be prosecuting misdemeanors, including domestic violence cases, at the county level. Finding those cases suddenly dumped on the city and lacking resources of their own, the Topeka City Council is now considering repealing the part of the city code that bans domestic battery. […]
Since the county stopped prosecuting the crimes on September 8th, it has turned back 30 domestic violence cases. Sixteen people have been arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery and then released from the county jail after charges weren’t filed. “Letting abusive partners out of jail with no consequences puts victims in incredibly dangerous positions,” said Becky Dickinson of the YWCA. “The abuser will often become more violent in an attempt to regain control.”
Mr. Scribe,
I have no ideal what you said.
Martin,
Why are you assailing Ms. Grace’s reputation in the same sentence as a Defense Attorney. She did not practice that way, she is an honest woman.
I am pleased that they are not pressing these charges. Most of the charges are made up or deserved. The ones that are made up hurt the prosecution of the ones that are deserved. It then becomes a case of who is the better liar.
Pete that was a wheel………………or maybe a flying saucer. Still nothing about helicopters.
Now wheels within wheels could be explaining how the differential on the rear axle of your pickup truck works. However, I am sure your truck is more than four horsepower.