I really shouldn't be writing this because I need to re-write my methodology section so that it reflects media ethnography. That's on my list of things to do today. But as I said, yesterday was a pretty rough day. I feel almost like I am in a Will Smith drama. Good thing for me is that I am short so there is no chance that he would ever portray me or my likeness :-). On to my rant for the day. Yesterday I was frenetic-so much to the point where I had to really step back and take a serious accounting of what has happened to me and how to cope and also seek some type of accountability (right now the word seems so absurd). As I said before, for a woman in the state of North Carolina to obtain a DVPO, it's the equivalent of going to Wendy's and ordering a biggie burger, shake, and fries. Again, I want to state that yes, there is a need for domestic violence laws and I am a strong supporter of feminism. That said, I have to say there is a serious double standard within this system which really is stacked up against males, particularly African American males who are abandoned at the margins of the system of American Apartheid. Yes as I write this we do have an African American president and that's great but still, that represents only a drop in the bucket in the face of 400 years of physical, psychic, educational, civic, and political trauma. There I said it!
Looking at the structure of the DV court system, lets start from the ground up. As I said, my friend who will remain nameless, pretty much got shafted and drug into the court system--falsely I add. So after all is hashed out, he was able to obtain a lawyer and for the low low price of $3000.00 dollars he was able to escape being placed in the electronic plantation know as the domestic violence offenders list. But lets say my friend didn't have the access to money, education, psychotherapy, spirituality, or even interpersonal communicative skills. The outcome would have been drastically different. At the civil level, the intake coordinator is a woman. The agent of law enforcement (in this case the deputy sheriff) is a woman. With two strikes against one already, here comes strike number three. Both of these women are white. This translates into being SOL. When the woman does appear in front of a judge, unfortunately most judges in DV court are older southern white men who bring with them there personal biases and subjectivities. As a disclaimer, I can only speak about Durham County because this is where my friend is located and having gone to court with him on quite a few occasions, these are are strictly my observations. When the judge decided yea or nea to grant the protective order it's comical. The judge, who may have more wrinkles than Yoda, briefly looks over over the paperwork; I'd say three minutes at most. In the most southern of southern drawls, he will say, ma'am, you don't want him to come to your home, you don't want him to come to your job, you don't want him go to where your kids go to school, you don't want him to talk to your family, you don't want him to talk to you at all. Ok granted. That's how it happens. Then the real fun begins. Our hypothetical friend is then served. The first thing he's probably going to do is get mad. I mean really mad because there is nothing more embarrassing than having the police knock on your door at night, or have them come to your job and officially serving your. Honestly, that isht can bring on some emotional and physical changes that would make the weakest crackhead obtain "that gamma radiation like strength." So, already emotionally charged, guess what the next move is going to be. He calls the one who put the papers out on him. Not too smart; our hypothetical friend has in essence, strapped himself to the chair while the bomb is ticking. Why, because the papers explicitly said, do not contact this person. But it's too late for that; emotionally charged, our friend who is already broken the law by communicating with her, is not calling to assuage any misstep or alleged wrong doing. In normal everyday parlance, he's calling because he wants to put his foot to that (you fill in the three letter word that is most appropriate). A phone call later, our same friend, now has a warrant out for his arrest on two criminal charges, 1) this person violated the DVPO and 2) he communicated a threat. So now our friend who is presumed guilty until proven innocent now is a fugitive. Welcome to the orange jumpsuit brigade because if he's doesn't have the money for bail--lets just say he's won free room and board until his case comes up at the house of many doors. Solutions to this problem-- one, civil DVPOs just can't given out like trick or treat candy. In cases where there are obvious criminal infractions--like physical assault, rape, battery yes with all do deliberate speed, move to get these people off the street, into some therapy, monitoring and we hope that that the offender will not make the same mistake. But in cases where it is a civil matter, the burden of proof must be higher before law enforcement should intervene. To me, for one to make an allegation--results to nothing more than hearsay and of course hearsay isn't admissible in the court of law. There needs to be some evidence, police reports of domestic disturbance, medical documentation of abuse, psych evals, video evidence, photos. That in my mind represents hard tangible evidence which can be used to make legitimate decisions about someone's limited movement. In essence, that's all those papers do anyway control movement. But again as demonstrated, paper is only paper.
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