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Research Paper On Domestic Violence

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“Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in which someone uses physical, sexual, psychological or other types of harm against a current or former partner, an immediate family member or another relative. It can also include stalking, threats or other behaviors meant to manipulate or control someone else.” “An incident of domestic violence occurs every fifteen seconds, [which is] more frequent than any other crime in the country.” Society has long recognized the existence of domestic violence, but domestic violence “has been spotlighted recently by cases involving NFL players Ray Rice and Greg Hardy.” “Informed by the feminist political movement’s call for awareness of spousal abuse and the [completion of the] first research experiments …show more content…

Most critics see the law simply as an amendment that added domestic violence misdemeanors to the list of conditions to prevent individuals from exercising their constitutional rights. “[C]ritics exclaim that the Act is wrought with obstacles. Besides the problems with retroactivity and the application to officers of the law and military, this Amendment has some unavoidable loopholes and unintended consequences which … prevent the Act from fully being …show more content…

THE RETROACTIVE ISSUE “The retroactivity of the Act [should] be challenged constitutionally.” “The Lautenberg Act is … retroactive, meaning that … individuals … who had domestic violence convictions ten, fifteen, even twenty years ago, lose the right to own or possess a firearm.” However, under the United States Constitution, which states, “ No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed,” retroactive penalties are deemed illegal, and therefore the Act is unconstitutional. The retroactive issue of the Act was thought to only be an issue when the Act was originally enacted. However, because there has never been a “state or national database of misdemeanor offenses” available, it has proved difficult to identify previously convicted individuals. “Unfortunately, a misdemeanor committed fifty years ago would still subject an individual to a lifetime gun ban, even if he or she has lived a happily married life with the ‘victim’ during the intervening period.” Therefore, the ex post facto law would be prohibited by the Constitution because it punishes an individual convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence ten, fifteen, or even twenty years after the crime has been committed, even if the conviction was only recently discovered due to updated databases or the technology to perform adequate background checks becoming

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