“REPUBLICAN-CONTROLLED” CHAMBERS AT EACH OTHERS’ THROATS …
|| By FITSNEWS || Under fire earlier this month for delaying hearings on criminal domestic violence legislation, S.C. House judiciary committee members are now taking heat for watering down a Senate bill already lacking in “oomph.”
Meanwhile, House members hoping their version of domestic violence legislation was going to pass muster with victims’ advocates received a firm rebuke.
S.C. Rep. Shannon Erickson – who went seeking praise from victims’ advocate Laura Hudson – was bluntly told the House version of the legislation was “bullsh*t.”
Hmmmm … guess that makes it similar to Hudson’s “advocacy” on behalf of certain victims whose abusers have political connections …
Or S.C. governor Nikki Haley‘s general “advocacy” on this issue – the hypocrisy of which has seeped into presidential politics (perhaps deliberately).
Anyway …
S.C. Senator Katrina Shealy – who does have some credibility on this issue – is furious with the House. In fact she suggested the judiciary committee’s delaying tactics (and efforts to weaken the CDV bill) could result in the Senate giving House members a taste of their own medicine.
“We don’t need to waste time passing another House bill out of our chamber until they start doing something worthwhile in the House,” Shealy told FITS. “We keep sending Senate bills across the hall that have gone through the subcommittee and full committee process and they keep rewriting them. Well that can go two ways.”
Shealy said the Senate’s CDV legislation isn’t perfect, but is nonetheless “a good bill” – and that House members “need to vote on the damn thing and send it through.”
One judiciary committee member – S.C. Rep. Donna Hicks – is working to firm up the House legislation in advance of an upcoming committee hearing.
“The governor, the attorney general, Republicans and Democrats in both chambers of the General Assembly – and most importantly the people of South Carolina – everyone is united on this issue,” Hicks said. “The House needs to be strengthening the Senate bill on criminal domestic violence, not weakening it. We need to do more than claim a victory – we need to achieve a victory. We need to do more than talk about reform – we need to pass reform. Nikki Haley, Alan Wilson, Katrina Shealy and others have been leading on this effort – it’s time for the House to support them and get a meaningful bill to the governor’s desk.”
Oddly enough, Wilson’s involvement – which began prior to the start of the legislative session – may be gumming up the works.
Several House members tell FITS they are uncomfortable working with the attorney general on this – or any other issue. How come? Many of them believe Wilson is still investigating them in connection with the joint federal-state probe that brought down former S.C. Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell last fall. Others say Wilson is using the issue to build his profile as he eyes a run at higher office in 2018.
Wilson’s office says the attorney general is simply trying to reduce the number of women killed by men in the Palmetto State – and to get laws on the books that do that this year, not next year or the following year (when it would be more beneficial to him politically).
Specifically, a spokesman for the attorney general says he is advocating for “tiered charges” aimed at better aligning domestic violence punishments with the level of physical harm caused in a given abusive incident – as well as imposing additional penalties in the event abuse occurs in the presence of a minor child.
Frankly, we haven’t been impressed with any of this year’s CDV proposals … which we recently referred to as “legislating for the sake of legislating.”
If lawmakers were serious about cracking down on violence against women, then they might consider better addressing cases like THIS … or THIS.
27 comments
At each other’s throats….that’s how legislation works Dumn@$$…unless you are a rubber stamp Democrat…
Bullshit, pandering legislation that doesn’t deserve even a subcommittee hearing. Good for the House for standing up for whats right.
That doesn’t even make sense but considering your name it wouldn’t!!
He makes loads of sense. Unfortunately, you and others such as Kayrina Shealy lack the insight and comprehension to grasp that.
Who is Kayrina? Once again you just don’t make sense! You must be in the House!! Not quite smart enough to make it across the Hall!
Typos happen on these little bitty phone keypads. Sorry you aren’t able to read around a one letter displacement. In the case of this bill, the House is in possession of far more sense than the Senate.
Excuses, excuses! I can’t help you have fat fingers or don’t proof read. (The T and Y are next to each other) A sure sign of a House member!
As long as the legislation (from either house) screws with the 2nd Amendment, the State will spend the next 12 years in Federal court defending it, spending millions of dollars in a futile attempt to push a square peg into a round hole. Take it out, insure it follows the 4th & 5th Amendments, and it might see eventual daylight.
… and that is just what all of those trial lawyers are hoping for: a long, lengthy billable court battle.
,,, and a good place for it, too.
I am curious as to what the legislature can do to prevent these deaths? What sort of law sets up a set of proactive measures to stop one person from killing/abusing another?
They can’t of course.
If somebody wants to kill you,they can ,and there is certainly nothing the SC Legislature can do about that.
Accordingly, what is now going on is nothing more than a PR campaign to show that the politicians “reacted” to a problem.
Will any of these things they’re doing have any real effect upon CDV?
Highly unlikely,but they have to show they are,
“doing something” because,despite the general”anti Government ” rhetoric that emanates from this states voters and legislators,like their counterparts elsewhere ,they generally Demand some type of governmental action anytime any “problem” come to the forefront.
Exactly!
We could go ahead and just give a gun to every women. And take away all the guns from all of the men.
But that does not take care of the problem of violence against men by women.
Domestic abuse is no more prevalent than it used to be. It’s just that it is reported more. There are already laws against wife beating, killing your girlfriend, threatening bodily harm, etc. Adding more laws will simply create more legal messes. Scorned women, dumped girlfriends, regretful sex partners…
Which is why women are less likely to be the victim than men according to a new CDC study
Then why is it considered a women’s issue?
Why is domestic violence and worse than other kinds of violence? What an anti-male crock. Assault is assault. Criminal Domestic Violence is a tool created by divorce lawyers to rob and destroy men when their wives are tired of sleeping with them. It infantilizes women and persecutes men. CDV victims are just victims. Assailants are just assailants. Anything else is a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S constitution (thank God for this document).
Well said! Thank You!!!!
CDV advocates and anti gun advocates are soooooooooooooooooo disconnected from the REAL WORLD. And it shows! You DO NOT need a gun to kill anything. Myself, I can do it with my bare hands. So what are they going to do? Outlaw hands???? Are they going to outlaw crossbows, baseball bats, rocks, bottles. irons, frying pans, etc????
You should just be in prison with all your weapons
Does the bill address the CDC study that shows men are more likely the be the victim of spousal violence than women?
Again, this is sexist bullshit. Laws should apply equally, and bias should be removed from the courtroom. Everyone seems to IGNORE men killed by women…
Really?
you are all stupid – nothing in the law specifies gender..guess you can’t read
From what I am reading we could use a few less men