By Presidential Proclamation, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Ending domestic violence - a heinous crime that terrorizes families, shatters homes, and destroys lives - is a top priority for the U.S. Department of Justice. Over the past 30 days, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District has reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to empowering survivors and fighting this horrible form of abuse.
We understand that domestic violence is a pervasive problem in Texas - and far too often, abuse escalates from bruises to bloodshed and tragically, loss of life. At least 175 women and 36 men were murdered by an intimate partner in Texas last year, according to the Texas Council on Family Violence. Roughly 60% of the abusers who killed their partners wielded a gun.
In an effort to prevent these tragic homicides, we’ve reached out to state and local law enforcement alerting them that federal firearm laws can be used to prosecute abusers - often without the testimony of victims, who, for obvious reasons, may be reluctant to testify in a court proceeding against their abuser.
The pertinent federal domestic violence crimes fall into two broad categories:
* Crimes under the Gun Control Act, which prevents prohibited persons - including convicted felons, individuals previously convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses, and individuals subject to certain protective orders-from possessing firearms, or from lying to firearms dealers about their status
* Crimes under the, which prohibits interstate stalking, cyber stalking, and using interstate commerce to commit domestic violence or violate protective orders
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has created a comprehensive brochure summarizing the federal statutes that may be charged in the domestic violence context, available at https://www.justice.gov/USAO-NDTX/DV.
The Northern District of Texas’ Domestic Violence Initiative Team - Assistant U.S. Attorneys Keith Robinson (Chief of NDTX’s Violent Crimes Section), Damien Diggs, and John Boyle, along with agents from ATF’s Dallas Field Division - have held information sessions for local District Attorney’s Offices; federal, state, local, and county law enforcement; and state judges to maximize referral of these cases to federal prosecutors.
As with all issues of public safety, while we will make as many arrests as we can consistent with the interests of justice, we recognize that enforcement alone will not solve the problem. So, we’re also working closely with our partners in the prevention, education and survivor support communities, like Genesis Women’s Shelter, The Family Place, and others. Earlier this month, we were proud to host the Justice Department’s Office of Violence Against Women, which awarded $16.5 million to support local law enforcement, victim service providers, and shelters fighting domestic and sexual violence in north Texas.
Moreover, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox was recently appointed by Attorney General William Barr to lead the Domestic Violence Working Group of the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. This group serves to advise the Attorney General and federal law enforcement partners nationwide as to how the USAO community can effectively marshal federal resources to combat domestic violence. She is honored to stand with dedicated U.S. Attorney’s across the country in the fight against domestic violence, and recently spoke at a Domestic Violence Conference hosted by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Justin Herdman.
“As Texans and Americans, we must remain vigilant in our quest to end domestic abuse and promote peace and safety in the home," says the U.S. Attorney. “While we must recognize and face head-on the existence and tragedy of domestic violence, we should also take heart in knowing that combatting and preventing this crime are top priorities of law enforcement at all levels, and that stakeholders are working closely across disciplines to bring a stop to it."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
