[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 90 (Thursday, June 30, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SUPREME COURT DECISION IN CASTLEROCK V. GONZALES

                                 ______
                                 

                    HON. JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 29, 2005

  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, we have heard much discourse 
today about two decisions handed down by the Supreme Court yesterday 
that addressed the constitutionality of displaying the 10 Commandments.
  This is an important issue, but I believe that another case handed 
down yesterday, Castle Rock v. Gonzales, deserves serious attention as 
well.
  Let me begin by saying that I am deeply disappointed with the Supreme 
Court's decision in Castle Rock v. Gonzales. In that case, the Court 
revealed a policy that strikes fear and sadness in the hearts of 
domestic violence victims and those of us who fight on their behalf: 
victims do not have a federal constitutional right to due process when 
they seek enforcement of their protective orders.
  Jessica Gonzales's story elicits anger and sadness. Jessica 
Gonzales's relationship with her husband was dangerous and abusive. 
Knowing the threat he posed to her and her children, she mustered a 
tremendous amount of personal strength and obtained a protective order 
against her husband from the State of Colorado. She went through this 
arduous process believing that the state and local authorities would 
come to her aid if her husband violated the order. She did not think 
she would have to beg and plead with them to enforce it.
  She was wrong. The New York Times reported today that:

       For hours on the night of June 22, 1999, Jessica Gonzales 
     tried to get the . . . police to find and arrest her 
     estranged husband . . . who was under a court order to stay 
     100 yards away from the house. He had taken the children, 
     ages 7, 9, and 10, as they played outside, and he later 
     called his wife to tell her that he had the girls at an 
     amusement park in Denver.
       Ms. Gonzales conveyed the information to the police, but 
     they failed to act before Mr. Gonzales arrived at the police 
     station hours later, firing a gun, with the bodies of the 
     girls in the back of his truck. The police killed him at the 
     scene.''
  Mr. Gonzales murdered their daughters after Ms. Gonzales spent hours 
trying to get the police to pay attention to her plight. This should 
never have happened.
  A protective order without guaranteed enforcement does not protect 
victims. It puts them in the position of being victimized over and over 
again.
  Domestic violence victims are already among the most vulnerable in 
our system. When they have children they are trying to protect, that 
vulnerability is compounded. Victims and their families rely on 
protective orders as one of the only tools they have to escape violent 
homes and relationships.
  We need to make sure that they know that a court-issued protective 
order, accompanied by a hearing and court appearance in front of their 
abuser, is worth more than the paper it is printed on.
  Recently, I introduced legislation that has received bipartisan 
support. H.R. 2947 seeks to require domestic violence education 
programs in high schools to teach teenage victims of dating violence 
about the legal options available to them as they seek to extricate 
themselves from abusive relationships.
  I want this legislation to have its intended impact: that more 
teenage victims will have the knowledge that they are not alone in 
their struggle to end abusive relationships and that there are legal 
processes available to aid them in this process.
  These young people, and every victim seeking the same assistance, 
need to know that the legal steps in place will actually protect them.
  We cannot change the Supreme Court's decision, but we can do our part 
to prevent Jessica Gonzales's horrific situation from replicating 
itself across the nation.
  First, we can pass my legislation, H.R. 2947. Second, we can 
strengthen and reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act before it 
expires on September 30th of this year. These victims deserve no less.