LafayetteLady -> RE: Protecting yourself from false allegations (5/18/2013 9:50:48 AM)
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I'm going to forgo the quotes just to save time. First, if that is the system you have, and I know you will disagree, but I feel it is worse than not having a death penalty. What you need to remember when talking about what you have "heard" here and elsewhere is that the stories, more often than not, are told by the ones who are arrested. Sorry, but they do tend to blow things out of proportion. Within the majority of the US, IF someone is arrested on domestic violence, the furthest they will go before trial is a county lock up. Contrary to popular opinion, county lock ups are not places where someone is in much danger or faces a great deal of indignities. Now, this certainly may not be the case in large cities, however, then you have to consider that in large cities, someone accused of domestic violence isn't likely to be placed in lock up outside the PD, because there simply isn't room. So, when an accusation of domestic violence occurs, will the one who has the allegation be hauled off to jail (again, jail and prison are VERY different places)? If the immediate evidence (signs of violence, injuries) shows that violence occurred, quite possibly. Where they go, however, is not much different than the "drunk tank." In other words, police remove the alleged offending party from the situation at hand, but mostly to give both parties time to calm down. Locally, I can tell you that actual arrests for domestic violence are a small number. That isn't to say that charges of domestic violence are small, because they are not. Restraining orders are issued on a temporary basis, and the accused is made to leave the premises. Now of course, if the accused is stupid enough to make threats to their accuser while the police try to peacefully remove them, then that's on them, isn't it? Suffice to say, screaming, "I'm going to get you for this, you stupid bitch!" (just an example) kind of seals one's fate. Usually, they aren't even taken to the police department unless something indicates they pose a continued threat. True false arrests occur in less than 1% of cases, and actually convicting innocent people even less so. When you consider how many are actually arrested each year, that is a very, very small number. However, the media doesn't make a habit of saying, "In today's news, 10,000 people were arrested, had a fair trial and were convicted," you aren't going to hear anything but the problem cases, making it appear that mistakes are the norm, not the exception.
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