I don’t usually write directly about politics, but Obama’s choice of Joe Biden for VP significantly raises the stakes for men. Joe Biden, known to men’s activists as “VAWA Joe” for his promotion of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, holds a great deal of responsibility for the abuses introduced by that law. Thanks to VAWA, men can be thrown out of their homes and removed from their children on hearsay — without due process. VAWA greatly empowers one side in the separation and divorce process, and it isn’t the men’s side. It explicitly denies men the advantages offered to women (check the name) by stripping men’s constitutional rights in the name of preventing violence against women. What other steps toward the enslavement of men might Biden promote as Vice President in his role as tiebreaker in the US Senate?
Although there may be a number of voters who will support Obama more for choosing Biden, it seems unlikely that they would outnumber the legions of men who have been bludgeoned or threatened by an angry, vengeful wife or girlfriend with the heavy, indiscriminate weapon Biden put in their hands. Stories of men wronged by VAWA’s suspension of due process abound, but it is not only the men who suffer: children, too, become victims of the increased bitterness and hatred caused by wrongs and state violence committed against innocent fathers just the same as when they are affected by real interpartner violence.
VAWA’s effects on the American family have not been seriously scrutinized by the public, so Biden’s nomination may finally provide the opportunity to evaluate the changes the bill has introduced to our society. I think the decline in marriage is one undeniable result of VAWA. Anecdotal tales of men being dispossessed and having their lives ruined by VAWA petitions have filtered through society, creating a folk wisdom that counsels men against marriage.
One of the more insidious outcomes of VAWA is the loaded gun it puts in the hands of immigrant wives. They are practically encouraged to commit fraud and perjury to obtain legal residency through a VAWA petition, and many have done so. In fact, in Seattle a VAWA immigration petition resulted in mass murder in the halls of the King County family law court.
The abuse of VAWA has animated legions of men with the desperate kind of energy that will certainly come into play in this presidential election, so the issue will finally rise to the surface. Fortunately, there are already a number of men committed to legal reform, and VAWA is squarely in their sights.
Although I don’t intend to bring politics into this blog on a frequent basis, this is a very serious issue for men, and hopefully the threat represented by a VAWA champion as the Vice Presidential candidate will give men an opportunity to right the wrongs and stop the abuses introduced by VAWA.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Frank Brooks // Sep 1, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Senator Joe Biden proudly proclaims that he was regularly and severely beaten by his older sister as a child and as an adolescent. This is the same sister that raised his two sons after his wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident.
Biden has often claimed that the Violence against Women Act is the greatest achievement of his career. He also claims that a woman cannot be a perpetrator of domestic violence, despite the fact that hundreds of studies show that women commit acts of domestic violence as often as, or more often than men. Many studies also show that lesbian women physically attack their intimate partners at least as often as heterosexual men.
As a result of Biden’s Violence against Women Act, the federal government pays states to create laws effectively requiring that innocent men be removed from their homes and families without even an allegation of violence, with no legitimate standards of evidence, when a woman makes a claim that she is afraid.
Elaine Epstein, president of the Massachusetts Bar Association (1999), has said “the facts have become irrelevant… restraining orders are granted to virtually all who apply. Regarding divorce cases, she states “allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage”. According to Epstein, who is also a former president of the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, restraining orders are doled out “like candy” and “in virtually all cases, no notice, meaningful hearing, or impartial weighing of evidence is to be had.”
State restraining order laws are starting to fall because they’re unconstitutional. The federal law behind them, written by Joe Biden, is likely to fall as well, not because it isn’t popular, but because it is clearly unconstitutional.
There is a rapidly growing activist community dedicated to addressing this issue. One of the focal points of this community is the Glenn Sacks blog, http://www.glennsacks.com .
Supporting Documentation
Here are some of the facts regarding Biden’s abuse at the hand of his sister. During senate hearings held on December 11, 1990, Biden testified to the abuse.
http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/0503roberts.html
This recent CDC study indicates that women between the ages of 18 and 28 initiate reciprocal violence against their intimate partners about as often as men. It also indicates that women initiate non-reciprocal violence against their intimate partners more than twice as often as men.
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/15/31-a
Here is a link to a bibliography of over 200 studies indicating that women are as violent as men in their intimate relationships:
http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm
According to the US Department of Justice, women also abuse, neglect and kill their children at significantly higher rates than men. Here’s some of the data on child homicides.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm04/figure4_2.htm
Research clearly indicates that lesbian battery is at least as common as heterosexual battery.
http://www.glennsacks.com/domestic_violence_a_2.htm
http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/lesbianrx/factsheet.shtml
http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianhealth/a/DVFactsMyths.htm
Cathy Young reports on the Elaine Epstein quote and the broader issue at Salon.com here:
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/10/25/restraining_orders/
and provides in depth analysis here:
http://www.iwf.org/files/50c58dda09f16c86b2c652aa047944f6.pdf
This report from RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting) provides much insight into the situation brought about, in large part, by Joe Biden.
http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARreport-VAWA-A-Culture-of-False-Allegations.pdf
2 Frank Brooks // Sep 1, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Senator Joe Biden was regularly and severely beaten by his older sister as a child and as an adolescent. How do we know this? He told us during a Senate hearing in 1990. http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/0503roberts.html
This is the same sister that raised his two sons after his wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident.
Biden has often claimed that the Violence against Women Act is the greatest achievement of his career.
Hundreds of studies show that women commit acts of domestic violence as often or more often than men. Many studies show that lesbian women physically attack their intimate partners at higher rates than heterosexual men.
As a result of Biden’s Violence against Women Act, the federal government pays states to create laws effectively requiring that innocent men be removed from their homes and families without even an allegation of violence, with no legitimate standards of evidence, when a woman makes a claim that she is afraid.
Elaine Epstein, president of the Massachusetts Bar Association (1999), has said “the facts have become irrelevant… restraining orders are granted to virtually all who apply. Regarding divorce cases, she states “allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage”. According to Epstein, who is also a former president of the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, restraining orders are doled out “like candy” and “in virtually all cases, no notice, meaningful hearing, or impartial weighing of evidence is to be had.” Cathy Young reports on the Elaine Epstein quote and the broader issue at Salon.com here:
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/10/25/restraining_orders/
State restraining order laws are starting to fall because they’re unconstitutional. The federal law behind them, written by Joe Biden, is likely to fall as well, not because it isn’t popular, but because it is clearly unconstitutional.
3 Frank Brooks // Sep 1, 2008 at 3:04 pm
The Illinois Bar Journal calls the orders “part of the gamesmanship of divorce.”
A recent article in the Family Law News, the official publication of the State Bar of California Family Law Section, explains that the Bar is concerned that “protective orders are increasingly being used in family law cases to help one side jockey for an advantage in child custody.” The authors note that protective orders are “almost routinely issued by the court in family law proceedings even when there is relatively meager evidence and usually without notice to the restrained person….it is troubling that they appear to be sought more and more frequently for retaliation and litigation purposes.”
http://www.glennsacks.com/letterman_case_shows.htm
4 Frank Brooks // Sep 1, 2008 at 3:05 pm
New Jersey’s domestic violence statute has recently been found unconstitutional. The New Jersey Attorney General is taking this case to the state’s Supreme Court.
The New Jersey Law Journal reports that Judge Richard Russell of Ocean City made the following remarks on tape during a judicial training session regarding the issuance of restraining orders.
(source – scan of print copy: http://www.fathersandhusbands.org/NJ_Rights_1.pdf)
“If I had one message to give you today, it is that your job is not to weigh the parties’ rights as you might be inclined to do as having been private practitioners. Your job is not to become concerned about all the constitutional rights of the man that you’re violating as you grant a restraining order. Throw him out on the street, give him the clothes on his back and tell him, ‘See ya’ around.’ “
A new municipal judge attending the training session stated “The statute says we should apply just cause in issuing the order.” “You seem to be saying to grant every order.” Russell quickly replied, “Yeah, that’s what I seem to be saying.”
The article is full of comments from Russell and his colleagues that are equally inflammatory.
Perhaps you think Russell should have been disbarred for instructing judges to ignore the constitution. In doing so, he violated his greatest responsibility as a judge in the most blatant way possible. Perhaps you think he should have gone to prison.
Russell now serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s State Domestic Violence Working Group, the Executive Committee of the State Bar’s Family Law Section, and the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Family Practice Committee. He currently is the chair of the court’s Child Support Subcommittee.
5 Bill // Sep 1, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Thanks for the informative comments, Frank. I only wish you had a blog of your own to link to for these kinds of issues.
6 Sean // Sep 1, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I agree… Joe Biden was the worst VP choice for Obama. McCain made a smart move by chosing a pro-family running mate. VAWA clearly violates the 14th amendment. Joe Biden’s views needs to be exposed before it’s too late.
VAWA is commonly abused by many immigrant women to fraudulently expedite their U.S. immigration process. I lost my home and assets to an immigrant who used VAWA in attempt to expedite their immigration process. A year later and too late, the courts finally acknowledge that marriage for U.S. residency was probable after performing a proper background investigation… Had the courts granted due process when false accusations were made, I wouldn’t have lost my home.
7 Both VP Candidates Support Using State Power to Pound on Men | Welmer // Oct 11, 2008 at 3:44 am
[...] lousy since I first voted in 1992, but this one just might take the cake. On the one hand, we have VAWA Joe Biden, who is “proud” of the sexist Violence Against Women Act on the Obama ticket, and on [...]
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