IRCPL Patriarchal Violence Series: Presentation and Discussion

IRCPL Patriarchal Violence Series: Arrest Policies Curtailing Police Discretion in Domestic Violence Cases

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Date: Monday, April 21, 2025, from 12:15-1:45pm

Location: Calder Lounge (Uris Hall 107)

Series: Patriarchal Violence

Speakers: Dorchen Leidholdt (Sanctuary for Families; Columbia Law), Gwen Wright  (NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and NYS Coalition Against Domestic Violence), and Allyson Chavez  (Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP)

Respondent: Eleanor Johnson (Columbia University)

The talk provides an overview of the problematic history of police response to survivors’ desperate calls for protection and assistance and the role of survivors and their allies in advancing reforms in New York State and nationally to improve law enforcement’s response to domestic violence.  The three speakers will explore the systemic impunity conferred on perpetrators of intimate partner violence by legal regimes over centuries; the role of the domestic violence survivors’ advocacy movement in challenging this state of affairs; highly publicized legal cases of police failure to protect that galvanized the movement; the arguments it advanced in support of new policies; and critical analysis of these policies and some unintended consequences that precipitated a new set of policy reforms. The talk concludes with an assessment of current conditions experienced by domestic violence survivors and the extent to which New York State’s laws curtailing police discretion remain responsive to their needs for protection and justice.  

Free and open to the public 

Registration is required—Please register in advance to reserve your spot