Case: An appeal concerning the guilt and punishment of
a husband who admitted beating his wife intentionally and had been sentenced to
five years imprisonment out of a maximum of 20 years . In the appeal the
husband acknowledged that he had beaten his wife for years on many occasions.
In general he beat her when he came home drunk.
The last episode was when he returned home drunk at 11:30 at night and
they got into an argument concerning his drinking. During the argument he
punched her in the face and she fell down bleeding badly. The husband then
locked the door of the apartment to prevent her from leaving to get treatment
the entire night. When she was finally treated the next day she had broken
bones in her face and under one eye as well as a bruised face and she needed to
be hospitalized for treatment.
Discussion – the appeal of guilt was simply tossed out as
having no basis. The main discussion revolved around the punishment. His
attorney pointed out that he was genuinely regretful for hurting his wife and
that the punishment was causing significant harm to the family. He pointed out that the wife was in fact being
punished by the sentence and that she had accepted that he was sincere and
wanted him to be allowed to return home. She would now have a significant
burden of supporting herself and their 3 children without his income as well as
having to raise the children herself for the next 5 years. He said it was clear
that he had learned his lesson and that the relationship could be repaired and
improved without a jail sentence. On the other hand aside from beating his wife
he had also sexually abused his daughter.
Conclusion: The court said
that while there was no question that the wife wanted her husband home and that
she believed his promises to reform – there was no way to ascertain or
guarantee that he would in fact reform. It was equally likely that she – as many
battered women – are always hopeful that this time it will be different –
despite the fact that they are typically disappointed. Taking everything together the court ruled that the sentenced was justified.
Does the wife get some type of stipend from the government to help her manage, while her husband is incarcerated?
ReplyDeleteOn another note, from reading the post, it doesn't sound like the sex abuse of his daughter was at all addressed by the court.
A victim should have the right to forgive her perpetrator from being punished for his wronging her.
ReplyDeletewhy? The crime is done against society. A murderer can be forgiven? The major crimes according to the Torah can not be erased by the forgiving of the victim. The victim has the right to forgive - but it doesn't erase the crime
ReplyDeleteIn Arab countries a criminal can pay a price for murder and be forgiven - but I am not aware that there is a similar concept in the Torah
A murder victim can't forgive the perpetrator. But according to the Torah if someone beat you up you have the right to forgive him from being penalized for beating you up.
ReplyDeletein a case of monetary damages only
ReplyDeleteIn a case of murder or rape of married woman forgiveness doesn't help. Furthermore where there were takanos to prevent wife beating - in Jewish communities - because it was viewed as harming the society The wife couldn't simple say that she forgave her husband and he was exempt from punishment.
In sum, any crime whichi is viewed as harming society -the offender is not acquitted simple because of the forgiveness of the victim.
In those days, sex abuse was rarely prosecuted, haredi or not.
ReplyDeleteShould her forgiveness help reduce the sentence? Meaning, should her desire to continue on with his drunken viciousness and broken bones encourage a lower sentence so that they still have a shot at it? A five year break will almost guarantee that their marriage is over, while a 2 1/2 year sentence is long but workable if she really wants to make it work. I guess the question is, should the victims interests have any affect on the court's punitive measures?
ReplyDeletethe court wasn't convinced that it was in her interest to have him in the house
ReplyDeleteThe nanny state shouldn't put itself in people's shoes and think it knows better what is good for a person than the person herself.
ReplyDeleteWhy only 5 years?
ReplyDeleteYes she gets a payment from Bituach Leumi.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the victim is intimidated by the perpetrator, that when they ultimately get out of jail they will get hurt, they will take revenge from them for not helping them get out of jail earlier...
ReplyDeleteRecurring problem in domestic abuse: wife goes back because she is emotionally or economically dependent - or both.
ReplyDeleteThey should enforce the jail sentence, she should not go back, because violent abusive husbands rarely change, despite all promises to the contrary.
Go any day to the court part that handles domestic violence, and you will hear girlfriends in the oubluv audience seating loudly objecting to jail terms and extensions of orders of protection of their boyfriends. (Jewish women don't have to go to court to. Ensure their orders of protection. Prosecutors eagerly enforce those cases they know are not true..)
ReplyDelete