This file was prepared for electronic distribution by the inforM staff. Questions or comments should be directed to inform-editor@umail.umd.edu. STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CONSTANCE A. MORELLA BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY AUGUST 6, 1992 Mr. Chairman, for many American women, real terror is not walking alone down a city street late at night. Real terror is being "home alone" with their loved ones. Six million American women are beaten each year by their husbands or boyfriends; four thousand of them die. Experts tell us that over 3.3 million children witness these attacks. Domestic violence or battering is a means of establishing control over another person-through fear and intimidation. Generally, battering is physical', but it also includes emotional, economic, and sexual abuse, and the kind of isolation experienced by hostages or prisoners-of-war. Battering is the single major cause of injury to women -- more than auto accidents, muggings, and rape combined. Medical researchers tell us that 25 percent of women who commit suicide are victims of family violence. U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello has described domestic violence as an epidemic and a national emergency. There are no typical victims or typical perpetrators. Domestic violence affects all of us, regardless of our age, race, income, religion, education or profession, and it contributes to the epidemic of violence that ravages our streets, schools, and neighborhoods. And what have we done? For the most part, society has looked the other way -- family and friends who chose not to intrude" and police and judges who simply failed to protect. Indeed, for many victims of domestic violence, the courts have been their adversaries, not their allies. The Maryland Gender Bias in the Courts survey, released three years ago, is typical of studies being done across the country. The Maryland study documented, in case after terrible case, the problems women faced when they went to court to seek relief from batterers or to arrange child custody. (Judge Rosalyn Bell of the Maryland Court of Special appeals, who will testify today, served on the Special Joint Committee on Gender Bias in the Courts that produced this report.) One judge remarked that because he would never put up with the beatings one woman endured, he believed she was lying. "If I was you and someone threatened me with a gun, there is no way I would continue to stay with them. . . . Therefore, since I would not let that happen to me, I can't believe that happened to you." (pp. 2-3) Another judge maintained that he believed women sought protection order in order to get the family home. (p.3) Another judge refused to to believe one woman's story because her husband was a physician and a "pillar of the community." (pp.2-3) Another judge refused to believe a woman because she had no visible bruises by the time she appeared in his court, and he suggested she come back after her next beating! When a woman is poor and non-English speaking these problems are compounded. Leslye Orloff, who works with the Hispanic community in Washington, D.C., will report on her experience dealing with our judiciary. The one area in which the courts have been particularly negligent has been in the area of child custody when there has been evidence of spousal abuse. Many psychologists, including Dr. Lenore Walker who is here today, maintain that spousal abuse is child abuse. According to Dr. Walker, over 50% of the men who beat their wives also physically abuse their children. Even if they are not themselves beaten, children who witness their fathers assault their mothers suffer permanent and grave emotional ans psychological harm. What types of harm? Lorraine Chase, a social worker from Annapolis, Md., will tell you what she has__observed in her practice. Children who grow up in violent homes learn two basic types of behavior: passive indifference for girls -- this can lead to drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, and suicide -- and aggressive behavior for boys -- school and street violence, truancy, and crime. Spousal abuse does not end with divorce. In fact, the abuse can increase. Custody litigation or the threat of it becomes yet another weapon for the batterer. Shared or joint custody, when there has been a history of abuse, often sets the stage for continued access to the victim and the children. H.R. 1253, the Judicial Training Act, would amend tho State Justice Institute Act of 1984 to provide $600,000 for five protects to carry out research on state judicial decisions relating to child custody litigation involving domestic violence and to develop training programs for judges and other court personnel about domestic violence and children. Without appropriate and timely intervention by friends or family, by the police, or by the courts, domestic violence escalates and often leads to death. Some women, ignored by the police, mistreated in court, and isolated from family and friends, their lives and their children's threatened, in desperation finally kill their abusers. The measure of that desperation was described vividly to me two years ago when I went to the Maryland prison for women at Jessup to meet with a group of women incarcerated for assaulting or killing their abusers. I will never forget what Gail Hawkins, who was serving a life sentence for killing her boyfriend, said to me: "A lot of women who come in here [the prison] don't understand why we [formerly battered women] smile. They don't understand that when we come to jail we find freedom." Gail was convicted of murdering her boyfriend, Randolph Harry, in 1979 and had already spent 12 years at Jessup. Gail contended that she stabbed him in self-defense as he attacked her in their kitchen. At her trial, the jury did not hear about the years of physical, mental, and sexual abuse that she had endured. The defense provided no expert testimony about what happens to battered women after repeated incidents of abuse. Gail was convicted of first degree murder and sent to prison. But Governor William Donald Schaefer heard Gail's story when he visited the Jessup prison in 1991. He learned about her childhood in a violent home and learned about her life with Randy, and about the night she took his life to save her own. He listened with compassion and a sense of justice. After a full investigation and review of her case, the Governor commuted her sentence and Gail was released a little over a year ago. Today, Gail works as a counselor at the Baltimore YWCA, working with abused and homeless persons. Governor Schaefer has made Maryland a national model in the fight against domestic violence. During his administration and with his full support, the state legislature has passed critical domestic violence legislation dealing with child custody and protection orders. The Governor has also mandated a statewide prevention and public awareness program for adults and children and ordered a review of law enforcement policies that relate to domestic violence. Most importantly, for our purposes here today, Governor Schaefer worked hard to change Maryland law so that in criminal trials Maryland juries will be able to hear a battered woman's history of abuse and the effects of battering. Because of his leadership, battered women in Maryland can now get a fair trial. (Battered women are allowed by law to present evidence of past abuse in criminal trials in only 5 other states. ) Dr. Walker will also tell you today about what happens to women who live in terror day after day. She will tell you about the pattern of abuse and responses to that abuse and how it can immobilize victims through fear, denial, and hopelessness. She will tell you about the battered woman's syndrome and about her work in the courtrooms of this country. H. Con. Res. 89, The Fair Trial Bill, would express the sense of Congress that the nature and effect of domestic violence should be admissible when offered in a State court by a defendant in a criminal case. Only a handful of States by statute allow evidence of past abuse or the testimony of expert witness about the battered woman's syndrome. A companion bill, H.R. 1252, the Battered Woman's Testimony Act, would authorize the State Justice Institute to allocate $600,000 in grant awards to appropriate organizations to collect information about the admissibility of expert testimony about the battered woman's syndrome, to promote the use of such expert testimony, and to research sources for funding to enable women, particularly indigent women, to find expert witnesses for their defense. When the battered woman's syndrome is allowed to be introduced in court, the jury can be better informed about a battered woman's pattern of behavior and her reasonable fear of serious injury or death. The battered woman syndrome allows a defense attorney to expand the scope of the self-defense argument. It is not in and of itself a defense, but only another piece of evidence for the jury to consider. An expert witness can further explain to the jury the dynamics of domestic violence and present an analysis of a particular defendantls situation. As a result juries will have a fuller picture of what went before, which will assist them in their analysis. And, as always, in the end the jury will determine guilt or innocence. Mr. Chairman, we who live and work in this great city know only too well the terrible toll violence takes every day on all of us, young and old alike. But Washington is not alone. Violence has become an epidemic in this country, and domestic violence is without a doubt a contributing factor. A great deal is said and written these days about family values. The term means many things to different people. But surely a fundamental on which all agree is simply this: our homes should be places of love and comfort, places of refuge, and sources of strength. Our homes should not be places of terror and death. Mr. Chairman, the families of this country deserve no less.