State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio has proposed a bill in Texas to create a domestic violence registry similar to the sex offender lists that are now common throughout the US. The proposed bill would force those convicted of DV three times to register on a publicly accessible list.
Criminal records are already publicly accessible, and anyone with an internet connection can look people up online by name, so it isn’t clear what difference the bill would make, and it’s probably simply a waste of time and resources. Furthermore, I doubt being on the list would stop women from going for guys with multiple DV convictions — plenty of women have no problem having intimate relationships with convicted murderers, rapists, etc.
However, it isn’t the bill’s uselessness and potential for abuse that concerns women’s groups, rather, it’s that women who got the guys jacked up would be easier to identify. But why ever would they care? Their ex-husbands already know who called the cops on them and had them put away, so what difference would it make if other people knew?
Hmmm…
Could it be that she doesn’t want the next guy to know that she put her husband behind bars?
