Local and National Domestic Violence Laws

Local and National Domestic Violence Laws.

Ryan Strange

Kaplan University

Introduction

        For the scope of this assignment we will be looking at one law from my local state of Minnesota and one national law as it relates to domestic violence. We will be examining the good things that the selected laws have done to improve the lives of the victims of domestic violence. It is my hope that throughout this whole process that you will see that we are making great strides to improve our stance on domestic violence and moving closer towards zero tolerance.

Laws Defined

        State Law:

        Minnesota statue 629.75 defines the law that covers the no-contact order that is enforced within Minnesota. A no-contact order provides protection for the victims of domestic violence by stopping the perpetrator from contacting the victim. This order enacts punishment against the accused for failure to adhere to this order. This punishment includes but is not limited to misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor, and felony if multiple violations. (Minnesota House of Representatives, 2012)

        Federal Law:

        U.S. code 2261 covers interstate domestic violence. This law covers any instances of domestic violence that crosses state lines. This law works in two parts. Part one includes when the offender crosses the state lines. Part two covers when the victim is forced or coerced into crossing state lines. Some of the punishments include, but are not limited to, fined, imprisoned up to life if it results in the death of the victim, 20 years for permanent disfigurement, 10 years for serious bodily injury, not more than 5 years in any other case. (Cornell Law, 2016)

Applicable Cases

        State Law:

        The Wright County newspaper publishes arrest reports. Some of these reports include details of the punishment for breaking the no-contact order law. I chose this article to show that the law is working. This one article displayed 8 instances over a one week period. (Schoemer, 2016) Another article that I found was from St. Louis county and this article displays the punishments that were issued for the accused. I chose this article to prove that Minnesota is taking this law seriously. Some of the punishments enforced include $50 fine, 90 days in jail, and one year of probation. (Duluth News Tribune, 2016)

        Federal Law:

        In Missouri, there was a case of interstate domestic violence that resulted in the accused murdering his wife. This case was tried in Missouri state court but the accused is now being brought up on federal charges since the case crossed state lines. This case is a prime example of the justice that this law provides to the families of the victims of these types of crimes. (Southeast Missourian, 2016) The second case that I found was related to a man that was sentenced to 3 years and 10 months in a federal prison for coercing his girlfriend to travel with him to a separate state so he could turn her into a prostitute. (Walker, 2016) I chose this case because the outcomes wasn’t murder however, because it was a federal case, the punishment was still severe for a lesser offense. This shows the diversity of this law through the entire gamut of the criminal justice system as it relates to domestic violence.

Conclusion:

        Over the course of this exercise I have learned about laws that I never knew existed. There are many protections for people who are victims of domestic violence. Some of these protections were mentioned within my paper. For example, the protection of being taken across state lines. It is tricky when dealing with domestic cases that go across state lines. This becomes a tricky situation but the resources become even greater to deal with these cases. This is when working with each other becomes am must and interagency communication is critical. This is why we all must work together to ensure that the lines of communication are always open. By doing this we can all create a better tomorrow and move closer towards zero tolerance.