Carey Roberts
Senator Biden's VAWA cover-up
By Carey Roberts
Amidst the hoopla surrounding Sen. Joseph Biden's ascendancy to the right hand of Barack Obama, something was curiously missing. Over the last 15 years, Biden has repeatedly bragged to his friends and colleagues, "What I'm most proud of in my entire career is the Violence Against Women Act." So why no mention of his legislative pride-and-joy amidst the flurry of text messages, press releases, and staged public appearances?
The answer is, VAWA has become something of an embarrassment to the good senator.
The Violence Against Women Act and related laws extract $1 billion from the federal purse and dispense the money to law enforcement agencies, legal aid programs, and abuse shelters. So what's wrong with that?
Over the last two months I have documented a series of scandals at the nation's abuse shelters. These articles have reported instances of drug abuse, dating parties for shelter residents, gross mistreatment of disabled residents, and assaults on shelter residents. And the eye-opener that the great majority of shelter residents are there for reasons that have nothing to do with domestic violence.
The investigation also reveals a broader pattern of managerial incompetence, lack of accountability, and a man-hating ideological agenda.
Most disturbing are reports of widespread child neglect and abuse, including physical and sexual assaults, many of these incidents going unreported to local authorities. And the shameful refusal of shelters to accept adolescent boys.
While many rue the struggles of our nation's abuse shelters, these pale in comparison to VAWA's effects on our nation's legal system.
Forget everything you learned in your high school civics class about due process, innocent until proven guilty, and equal treatment under law. VAWA-inspired laws have carved out an Alice-in-Wonderland world in our legal system in which any partner disagreement qualifies as domestic "violence," in which persons never qualify "offender" with the word "alleged," and in which a person so accused can seldom restore his good name.
Consider the case of Mr. General Parker from Illinois. He and his wife were in the middle of a contentious divorce when she had a bright idea: If she accused him of partner violence, getting custody of their son would be a sure bet. And no doubt the local abuse shelter would be willing to provide free legal help, as well — what a deal!
But rather than accept a plea bargain and lose any hope of seeing his son, Parker decided to fight the accusation. On August 20, 2003, the judge dismissed the charges against him. But that didn't stop the woman from filing a new round of allegations stemming from the same incident.
The goal, of course, was to keep a little boy from seeing his dad. Even though Parker was awarded weekend visitation with his son, his ex refuses to honor the judge's decision. And the St. Louis County police have been no help. After all, compelling a woman to respect a visitation order could be seen as harassment and abuse.
This week Mr. Parker is in Denver, talking up his fellow Democratic delegates about the need for a make-over of VAWA.
Despite recurring accounts like this, Sen. Biden has shown no interest in reforming the law. Incredibly, he wants to expand it.
This last year he introduced two new bills, the International Violence Against Women Act and the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Act. The second bill would farm out $55 million to the American Bar Association to sign up legal "volunteers" so they can chase more low-income dads away from their children.
I know, it all seems incredible — welcome to the wacky and wonderful world of VAWA, where a woman's word is proof enough.
There's more to Biden's VAWA cover-up. Because Mr. Biden is a victim himself of domestic violence. Here's Biden's testimony during Senate hearings on December 11, 1990 where he revealed the abuse meted out by his older sister, Valerie:
"In my house, being raised with a sister and three brothers, there was an absolute — it was a nuclear sanction, if under any circumstances, for any reason, no matter how justified, even self-defense — if you ever touched your sister, not figuratively, literally. My sister, who is my best friend, my campaign manager, my confidante, grew up with absolute impunity in our household."
And this was Sen. Biden's bell-ringer: "And I have the bruises to prove it. I mean that sincerely. I am not exaggerating when I say that."
Valerie Biden Owens continues to this day to serve as one of the senator's closest political confidantes.
I won't pretend to fathom the psychology of a man who was severely abused by his older sister, and then later went on to champion an unconstitutional law designed, by name, to only protect women.
© Carey Roberts
Amidst the hoopla surrounding Sen. Joseph Biden's ascendancy to the right hand of Barack Obama, something was curiously missing. Over the last 15 years, Biden has repeatedly bragged to his friends and colleagues, "What I'm most proud of in my entire career is the Violence Against Women Act." So why no mention of his legislative pride-and-joy amidst the flurry of text messages, press releases, and staged public appearances?
The answer is, VAWA has become something of an embarrassment to the good senator.
The Violence Against Women Act and related laws extract $1 billion from the federal purse and dispense the money to law enforcement agencies, legal aid programs, and abuse shelters. So what's wrong with that?
Over the last two months I have documented a series of scandals at the nation's abuse shelters. These articles have reported instances of drug abuse, dating parties for shelter residents, gross mistreatment of disabled residents, and assaults on shelter residents. And the eye-opener that the great majority of shelter residents are there for reasons that have nothing to do with domestic violence.
The investigation also reveals a broader pattern of managerial incompetence, lack of accountability, and a man-hating ideological agenda.
Most disturbing are reports of widespread child neglect and abuse, including physical and sexual assaults, many of these incidents going unreported to local authorities. And the shameful refusal of shelters to accept adolescent boys.
While many rue the struggles of our nation's abuse shelters, these pale in comparison to VAWA's effects on our nation's legal system.
Forget everything you learned in your high school civics class about due process, innocent until proven guilty, and equal treatment under law. VAWA-inspired laws have carved out an Alice-in-Wonderland world in our legal system in which any partner disagreement qualifies as domestic "violence," in which persons never qualify "offender" with the word "alleged," and in which a person so accused can seldom restore his good name.
Consider the case of Mr. General Parker from Illinois. He and his wife were in the middle of a contentious divorce when she had a bright idea: If she accused him of partner violence, getting custody of their son would be a sure bet. And no doubt the local abuse shelter would be willing to provide free legal help, as well — what a deal!
But rather than accept a plea bargain and lose any hope of seeing his son, Parker decided to fight the accusation. On August 20, 2003, the judge dismissed the charges against him. But that didn't stop the woman from filing a new round of allegations stemming from the same incident.
The goal, of course, was to keep a little boy from seeing his dad. Even though Parker was awarded weekend visitation with his son, his ex refuses to honor the judge's decision. And the St. Louis County police have been no help. After all, compelling a woman to respect a visitation order could be seen as harassment and abuse.
This week Mr. Parker is in Denver, talking up his fellow Democratic delegates about the need for a make-over of VAWA.
Despite recurring accounts like this, Sen. Biden has shown no interest in reforming the law. Incredibly, he wants to expand it.
This last year he introduced two new bills, the International Violence Against Women Act and the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Act. The second bill would farm out $55 million to the American Bar Association to sign up legal "volunteers" so they can chase more low-income dads away from their children.
I know, it all seems incredible — welcome to the wacky and wonderful world of VAWA, where a woman's word is proof enough.
There's more to Biden's VAWA cover-up. Because Mr. Biden is a victim himself of domestic violence. Here's Biden's testimony during Senate hearings on December 11, 1990 where he revealed the abuse meted out by his older sister, Valerie:
"In my house, being raised with a sister and three brothers, there was an absolute — it was a nuclear sanction, if under any circumstances, for any reason, no matter how justified, even self-defense — if you ever touched your sister, not figuratively, literally. My sister, who is my best friend, my campaign manager, my confidante, grew up with absolute impunity in our household."
And this was Sen. Biden's bell-ringer: "And I have the bruises to prove it. I mean that sincerely. I am not exaggerating when I say that."
Valerie Biden Owens continues to this day to serve as one of the senator's closest political confidantes.
I won't pretend to fathom the psychology of a man who was severely abused by his older sister, and then later went on to champion an unconstitutional law designed, by name, to only protect women.
© Carey Roberts
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