Ellen Forman, one of my guest bloggers, has let me know about a conference happening next week at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. The topic is state accountability in domestic violence; the topic is focused around a 2005 Supreme Court decision in the case of Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales. The Washington Post's synopsis:
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that federal law provides no guarantee of a specific police response to domestic violence complaints, even when a restraining order has been issued against a potential perpetrator.The case, a victory for cities and states that feared costly lawsuits, stemmed from allegations by a woman in Colorado that police failed to make a serious effort to enforce a restraining order against her estranged husband, who then killed her three daughters before being fatally shot by police.
The woman, Jessica Gonzales, sued the town of Castle Rock, Colo., saying that police there violated the due-process clause of the Constitution's 14th Amendment by putting her off when she repeatedly phoned for help before the killings in June 1999.