With
the recent publication of crime statistics for 2003 by the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation I have been able to update the demographics of domestic violence in
the state legal system. We now have archival court data for the years 1998
through 2003 and some clear trends are evident. With regard to domestic
violence, Colorado is a bellwether state, having introduced some of the
earliest laws requiring mandatory arrest, "no drop" prosecution,
combined with "primary aggressor" (arrest the male) statutes.
Further, in Colorado restraining orders are permanent, as in the rest of one's
life, whereas in most other states such orders have a finite duration of one or
two years.
One frightening trend is the extraordinary increase in the issuance of
restraining orders as shown:
Also, in 2003 court cases for criminal domestic violence increased 5% to
16,159, yet domestic violence incidents reported to police decreased 2%
to 7,108 (Table 49)
from the previous year. No public official I have spoken with has been able to
explain why or how there are more than twice as many DV criminal cases in court
than DV incidents reported to the police, nor how the police incidents can be
going down while the number of DV court cases is rapidly increasing.
One surprising trend became clear in 2003. Divorce filings in Colorado courts
have consistently decreased from 63 per 10,000 citizens in 1999 to 56 per
10,000 in 2003 (Table
53). It might reasonably be expected that with restraining order filings
and domestic violence cases increasing at an extraordinary rate that divorces
should also be increasing. To find that isn't happening was puzzling.
An obvious way to avoid a divorce is not to marry in
the first place.
For most of the fifty-plus years between
1950 and 2002, the marriage rate in Colorado averaged around 100
per 10,000 citizens per year but has been
steadily declining since 1994.
One might reasonably suspect that increases in restraining orders and DV
charges have a depressing affect on men's willingness to marry. These relations
are clear in the following
plot:
The divorce rate then appears to be declining because there are fewer couples
getting married. And in 2003 the marriage and restraining order rates appear to
intersect although additional data, as always, are desirable.
Clearly, the implication is that as
charges of domestic violence and abuse increase, the number of marriages
declines. That finding agrees with common sense. Marriages are built on trust
and a restraining order or DV allegation destroys any trust in one's partner.
There are, of course, many other
factors contributing to the decline of marriage in today's society, e.g., the
easy availability of sex without getting married. Women also blame men, as
usual, for having a fear of commitment. But it is a rare man today who has not
been caught up in the nightmare of a divorce, allegations of domestic violence,
a restraining order, or faced charges of sexual harassment; or at least has a
close friend, co-worker, parent, sibling, or other relative who has been through
the horror of our present "legal" system.
With the rate of restraining orders
exceeding the marriage rate, does anyone think our society can long survive
under these laws and practices?
If unsupported allegations of
domestic violence and abuse can be freely made in divorce and custody disputes
with the law
strongly favoring the female, then a man has to be
functionally insane to marry and a drooling idiot to sire a child.
By not marrying, and using modern
birth control methods, our best and brightest largely avoid the nightmares our
family laws and courts have become. As a result, family laws in Colorado have
become a breeding experiment in stupidity.
Charles E.
Corry, Ph.D., F.G.S.A.
--
The Equal Justice Foundation is a member-supported, non-profit
501(c)(3) corporation. Contributions are tax deductible and can be made on the
Web at http://www.ejfi.org/Join.htm
Charles E. Corry, Ph.D., F.G.S.A.
President, Equal Justice Foundation http://www.ejfi.org/
455 Bear Creek Road
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906-5820
Telephone: (719) 520-1089
Domestic violence against men in Colorado: http://www.dvmen.org
Personal home page: http://corry.ws
Curriculum vitae:
http://www.marquiswhoswho.net/charleselmocorry/Default.aspx
The
good men may do separately is small compared with what they may do
collectively. Benjamin Franklin
|
|
Dr.
MICHAEL A. S. GUTH
|
Free Legal Advice ||
Attorney at Law
Homepage
|
DISCLAIMER. This web page was written by a lawyer, and
it discusses legal issues. It would not be complete without a disclaimer.
This web page and all its constituent parts and all the various links are
provided subject to and governed expressly by the terms of this disclaimer. I
provide this site for educational purposes and to stimulate a discussion
among people with a common interest in legal issues. I do not warrant or
represent the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained in this
page or any of its constituent pages. Neither this web site nor the articles
contained on it are legal advice. The information presented is not intended
to be advice as to a specific fact pattern with which the reader may be
presented. This web site and articles describe general, non-specific legal
information. They are not intended to cover all the issues related to the
topics discussed. Any member of the public must exercise caution in trying to
apply general information about the law to the specific facts of some matter
of concern. Accordingly, please note that by using this page you acknowledge
that the information at this site is being provided "as is" and not
as legal advice on any matter. No atttorney-client relationship is hereby
established between the reader and Dr. Michael Guth. I also make no
representation as to the authorship, quality, reliability or accuracy of any
of the links from this page or any of its constituent pages. Pages linked to
which are not maintained by me may be subject to other terms and conditions.
Neither this web site nor the articles contained therein are solicitations.
Rather they inform the public about legal services and non-legal services
offered by attorney Michael Guth. By accessing this page, you acknowledge
that you have both read this disclaimer and understood its terms, as a
condition to visiting my site. "In a perfect world we wouldn't need this
disclaimer, but in a perfect world, you wouldn't need lawyers either."
-- Ms. Parry Aftab. |