Every comment about the police NOT trying to stop crime should remember this. A failed life of crime is an EXPENSIVE life to the taxpayer.

save the money for something more deserving.....its a hard sell because its a stupid sell and a waste of serious money and resources....98% of these women KNOW about the guys violent propencities before they themselves become victims, they knowingly put themselves at risk and then when it happens to them its "poor me, i need help"......if these guys were given meaningful jail terms there would be a lot less of this mess. When people put themselves into situations that they know are risky dont put a burden on other people and limited resources because they made bad choices and ended up on the short end of the stick.

Stryper, you either haven't been there, or haven't thought this through. Meaningful jail terms, I agree with that. There's no reason why a domestic assault should be considered less serious than assault on a stranger, but it is. But please don't blame the women (or sometimes men) who are getting beaten and worse. Believe me, and I have been there, they are the good people in that relationship. Yeah, they need to escape the relationship but it's not that easy. Some of these dudes are seriously homicidal and then when there's children involved...

This law is ruining more families and lives than any other single law in the US. It is completely discriminatory, one-sided and violates men's constitutional rights to due process. This is not a new complaint at this point but what is so disgusting is how not a single politician will address the law's shortcomings to stop the harm this law is causing. The truth would require a rethink of the entire legislation and as we have all seen, even things everyone agrees to in Congress can't be accomplished, much less something that requires attention to some intricate details like a making sure you don't trample over a person's constitutional rights. Half the population - men need to leave the US and start another country to live in where the current ideas they believe in i.e., justice, fairness, civil rights and the like can can actually be practiced as opposed to the US which had made these things for men a total lie.

Stryper - I have news for you. My husband of 20 plus years decided to pull a gun on me for the first time ever in our relationship and was almost successful in killing me and our kids. There were no prior physical incidents, no indications that he would become violent. He did not have a history of physical or emotional abuse - had never been in trouble with the law. You need to know it is NOT the survivors fault...and perhaps spend some time hearing other people's stories to know your theory is so far off base.

One must be careful with special interest groups as they advocate on behalf of specific individuals to the detriment of others through a limited amount of resources and manpower. Domestic violence laws are very strict and require enormous amounts of resources far in excess of nearly any other crime. Is this vast allocation of resources warranted, obviously some would say yes.

Sen. Amy seemingly never has any interest in anything but regulating various domestic social issues. I'm not by any means condoning domestic abuse, mind you. But Amy can't seem to be bothered with the larger problems this country faces and continues to champion just about every feel-good issue she can lay her hands on. Pointedly, she thinks like a woman pushing women's issues, not like a Senator representing us all.

This seems like a worthwhile program. I just hope that, contrary to the way the article is written, that it takes an even hand and doesn't assume that in a given domestic dispute that the man is inherently the abuser. Stats show that men self-report being victims of domestic violence at similar rates to women. However, men are less likely to report due to cultural biases. Additionally, when they are victims, they frequently find that the support systems out there are not equipped to deal with men. There is a cultural assumption that only women need help, and only men can be abusers. When this assumption trumps the facts on the ground, it is not just the man who suffers. Any children in the house, neighbors, and the woman herself who no doubt needs help all pay the price.