This could change things. I Am Not A Lawyer, so I just don’t know.
Tuesday the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento ruled California’s exclusion of men from domestic violence violates men’s constitutional equal protection rights.Â
The taxpayer lawsuit was initially filed in 2005 by four male victims of domestic violence. In 2007, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly dismissed the case, ruling that men are not entitled to equal protection regarding domestic violence because they statistically are not similarly situated with women.Â
The Court of Appeal reversed that decision and held: ‘The gender classifications in Health and Safety Code section 124250 and Penal Code section 13823.15, that provide state funding of domestic violence programs that offer services only to women and their children, but not to men, violate equal protection.’
read the case here –Â Woods. v. Shewry; 3rd Dist. C056072
UPDATE: Marc Angelucci, counsel for the plaintiff, is being interviewed by the ABC affiliate in LA as I write this. Look for video later tonight, maybe.
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Good. Because while statistics show that women are more likely to be abused than men, it still happens to men more than you think. Any hospital ER has a story at least once a year where a man is poisoned or stabbed by his wife. Some men are actually beaten. While it is a less common occurrence it still needs just as much protection under law.
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