the Memphis Area Women’s Council. Te first session of 2014 is scheduled for January 24. (See, section entitled “A Call to Action” accompanying this article.) Te medical expenses and personnel involved in treating the injuries of the victims of domestic violence, including unborn children of the victim, is costly and consumes scant public resources. Dr. Martin Croce, Medical Director, Te Elvis Presley
Memorial Trauma Center, was among medical personnel who spoke from the perspective of a doctor frequently seeing and treating apparent victims of domestic abuse in the ER. He described the difficulties of getting the victim to acknowledge that her husband/partner has beaten her due to the fear of repercussions. Dr. Croce testified that frequently, the victim is pregnant and the beating may cause miscarriage or premature birth, thereby causing the infant to experience significant birth defects or to die. He discussed the significant medical costs of treating the victims’ injuries and of neonatal services related to domestic violence. Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich
and Shelby County Public Defender Stephen Bush were among the law enforcement officials who testified concerning the extreme financial and personnel burdens placed upon the legal system as a result of the prosecution and defense of domestic violence. District Attorney Weirich reported an expense of $143 for each instance of domestic violence to which police respond and average cost of $460 if an arrest is made. Other law enforcement officials reported that the response to a standard call can take anywhere from one to four hours. Under Tennessee law, if a primary aggressor is present and can be identified by responding officers with probable cause to believe that a misdemeanor or felony has been committed, an arrest must be made (TCA §36-3-619). In addition to requiring further personnel hours for the purposes of booking, an officer’s presence before a local judge or commissioner, and performing other tasks such as a lethality assessment, arrests trigger a state law that typically mandates a minimum of 12 hours of incarceration following a related arrest, (TCA §40-11-150 (h)(1)). Tis leads to an immediate facility cost in a municipal holding cell or county jail that can be as low as $40 per inmate per day, but is more commonly reported in the range of $60 to $90. (As an example of this cost, District Attorney Weirich testified that the Shelby County jail held 118 inmates as of June 7th, at an average annual cost of $32,850 per inmate, or more than $3.8 million per year.) Tis period of time is often considered a “cooling off” period for the offender, and allows time for the victim make needed arrangements. Te offender’s “cooling off” period is the stage at which the victim is likely to apply for an Order of Protection, which can prohibit an offender from approaching the victim, but are frequently violated, according to testimony. If the victim has decided to press charges, or if there is enough evidence for the local District Attorney to substantiate a charge, the process will continue beyond this point; if not, the abuser typically
returns home to their victim, potentially exposing the public to another cycle of expense.7 If the victim has decided to press charges or sought an
order, a private or volunteer attorney may become involved in the case. If the victim does not choose to prosecute, the district attorney frequently will. A defense attorney or the local public defender will likely become involved as well, along with victim witness coordinators and pre-trial services providers. Information is lacking about the average cost of a domestic violence case in Tennessee, but in one example, Shelby County Public Defender Stephen Bush shared that expenses in his office average $257 per case, for defense only. Tis is particularly noteworthy considering the volume of cases statewide.8 While it is currently unclear just how many domestic
violence cases occur each year or how much they cost, there are thousands statewide, and testimony indicates that domestic violence made up a third or more of several General Sessions court dockets in 2012. In recent years, jurisdictions such as Memphis, Bristol, and Sevier County have set aside entire days to address related cases exclusively. Additional costs at this point in the process include the expense of having first- responders on-hand to testify (Memphis PD estimates $1.5 million in overtime to do so), the personnel costs to operate the court itself and the cost of counsel for both the plaintiff and the defendant. Included in some cases are filings for divorce and child custody, which can cost a minimum of $1,700 in some jurisdictions. In fact, domestic violence is believed to be a primary cause for one in five divorces. Te Exchange
Club Family Center estimates that
nationwide between 3.3 and 10 million children witness domestic violence in their home each year. Children in homes where domestic violence occurs are physically abused or seriously neglected at a rate 1500% higher than the national average in the general population. A study by the American Bar Association of more than 900 children at battered women’s shelters found that nearly 70% of the children were themselves victims of physical abuse or neglect. Nearly half of the children had been physically or sexually abused. Five percent had been hospitalized due to the abuse. However, only 20% had been identified and served by Child Protective Services prior to coming to the shelter. Far from being a “family matter,” domestic violence crimes impact taxpayers and employers; they create the need for an entire industry of service providers that could be tackling other social issues; they contribute to delays in law enforcement response and emergency care; drain public coffers to provide many of these services; and derail the lives of thousands of women each year who could be making significant, dynamic contributions to Tennessee’s economy.9
THE CALL TO ACTION As attorneys, we can volunteer, through Memphis Area
Legal Services, to provide legal counsel and assistance to victims of domestic violence seeking orders of protection or
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