How do you balance privacy and housing concerns among domestic violence victims?

The state of Connecticut is leading the way in figuring that out. I wrote this for C-HIT, CT Health Investigative Team.

In other Supreme Court news…

…the Court handed down a 6-2 decision in Voisine et al v. U.S., that reckless domestic assaults can be considered misdemeanors that restrict gun ownership. (If you’ll remember, this is the case in which Associate Justice Clarence Thomas broke his 10-year silence on the bench to ask a question. He, along with unlikely ally Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, …

Thank you, Permanent Commission on the Status of Women

While the Connecticut legislators hurl their way toward Wednesday, the end of this legislative session, can we take a quick moment to thank the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, a 43-year old powerhouse of an organization that works tirelessly for the women of Connecticut. By Connecticut General Assembly mandate, the commission monitors, critiques and recommends changes to legislation …

For this, he breaks his silence?

The news is all over that Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas broke his 10-year silence (a record!) during yesterday’s oral arguments in Voisine v. United States. And the reason he spoke up? To question the gun ban that exists for domestic abusers. During a five-minute exchange with Ilana Eisenstein, the lawyer for the government, the conversation focused: largely on the …

One powerful Super Bowl ad…

You can read more here.

What’s a feminist today?

The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation have released a poll on what Americans think of feminism (New Wave feminism) today. The results are a little bit fascinating, including: 6 in 10 women and one-third of men call themselves a feminist or strong feminist Roughly 7 in 10 of men and women say the movement …

Guns + domestic violence = death. We need to change our laws.

Connecticut has a dangerous loophole in its gun laws that allows people operating under a temporary restraining order to possess a firearm. When a gun is involved in a domestic violence incident, women are five times more likely to die. We need to close that loophole. I wrote this for CT Health Investigative Team.

This isn’t justice

And thanks, Cynical, for this graphic.

“We’re missing the point on mass shootings”

Read this Huffington Post piece by Melissa Jeltsen, which includes: The untold story of mass shootings in America is one of domestic violence. It is one of men (yes, mostly men) targeting and killing their wives or ex-girlfriends or families. The victims are intimately familiar to the shooters, not random strangers. This kind of violence …

NRA Blood Garglers® strike again.

The National Rifle Association reached a new low [NSFW illustration with that last link] when it successfully campaigned against a Louisiana bill that would have made gun ownership difficult for people who commit domestic violence against an intimate partner with whom they do not share an address. Because who needs protection more than a person …