War wounds

In case you missed it last week, former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith resigned from his position as deputy mayor of New York City after being arrested in their Georgetown home for domestic violence. After Margaret Goldmsith said to him, "I should have put a bullet into you years ago," he shoved her into a counter, smashed a phone and held her for some moments. She called the cops. But by the time they got there, she had changed her miind and said she didn't want her husband arrested. However, under Washington, D.C. law (and the laws of 22 states), an arrest is mandatory once the call has been made, and Goldsmith spent two days in jail before the charges were dismissed when she declared her wish that he not be prosecuted. This is now being cited by some, including Harvard Law professor Jeannie Sulk, as an example of "governance feminism," one more battleground for the war of the sexes:

(And the Goldsmiths were fortunate there. According to Suk, many disputes result in mandatory prosecution and sentencing, over the objections of the woman.)

Now the Goldsmiths have begun a public-relations offensive, calling the domestic-violence incident a “mistake” and a “misunderstanding.” No, it was not a mistake or misunderstanding. It is the law. A woman who declares herself a victim of domestic abuse by calling the cops will for a time be seen as incapable of making her own decisions. Evidently Mrs. Goldsmith regrets her action, but now his career is in shambles, his children have suffered, and the marriage is marred. No evidence has been presented that Goldsmith was a serious abuser; it was all for nothing.

. . . Suk argues that, thanks to feminism, the home has been defined for the purposes of the law as a ”place of male violence.” This is due to what Suk calls “governance feminism,” developed by Catharine MacKinnon, which “focuses on the subordination of women by men, particularly in intimate and sexual relationships.” According to Suk, MacKinnon's “influence on our legal system's understanding of men and women cannot be overstated. If you talk to police, prosecutors, lawmakers, and judges about domestic violence, perhaps they have not read MacKinnon, but they often subscribe to the premise that men subordinate women through sex and violence.”

Boy, I don't know. Granted that reactionary feminism has been a harmful influence in many areas, this also seems like a reactionary (i.e., could benefit from a little nuance) response to the Goldsmith case. Those who are abused are are often cowed and meek in the face of that abuse, and their recantations often do lead to more (and sometimes greater) abuse. This is the reality, not mere feminist dogma.

Police and prosecutors waste a lot of time and energy on domestic violence cases that have to be dropped because the victim won't cooperate, and such calls are among the most fraught with peril for police. A mandatory arrest might be problematic, but it's not a completely unreasonable effort to get control of the situation.  At the least it creates some space between the two people so there can be some cooling off.

Indiana is not one of the states with a mandatory-arrest law. But police are "encouraged to make arrests whenever possible." And prosecutors can pursue charges even without complainant cooperation is there is other evidence. It seems fair to say, though, that in this state figthing couples are more likely to be left on their own to works things than they would be in D.C. and the 22 states with mandatory arrests. Which way is better?

A great irony in all this is that before he was Indy mayor, Goldsmith was the Marion County prosecutor, during a time when his wife was active in the Mayor's Commission on Family Violence; she was also a social worker in Marion County juvenile courts for years. It seems very likely both were very aware of domestic violence issues, including the reality of victim recantations.