see http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-victim-jail-0719-20110719,0,1456646.story Imo, just an awful decision by a judge in Will county. The victim in a aggravated domestic battery case refused to testify against the alleged attacker, who was her boyfriend. Happens every day in courtrooms around the country. Many if not most of the victims of domestic violence continually go back to there abusers several times before they finally say enough is enough and decide to cooperate with the prosecution.
When this happens, while tragic, most of the time the accused abuser gets his case dismissed. This is because unless there is another witnesses to the abuse, often times the prosecutions entire case rests with the testimony of the victim. However, a judge in Will county instead decided to hold the victim in contempt of court for refusing to come to court and testify against the defendant concerning the abuse. The judge set the victim’s bond at $100,000, which was higher than the defendant’s bond. She was taken into custody and is still locked up today.
We have gotten to the point where we are locking victims up in jail. Aren’t our jails full enough?Aren’t there better ways to get the victims of domestic violence to cooperate with the prosecution other than locking them up in jail? For many of these victims, the abuser is the only source of money for them and their children to live on. We should be providing these victims with the support and resources they need to live their lives without the abuser, not putting them in jail.
Author: Dennis Dwyer