President's Corner

by Patricia C. Hannigan, Esquire

Several weeks ago we were shocked by the tragic death of another apparent victim of domestic violence, this time a member of our own legal community. Stacy Dawkins, who was allegedly murdered on Concord Pike in front of passing motorists and her six-year-old son, was a legal secretary in the Bankruptcy Department of The Bayard Firm. I understand that she had done everything right to seek the protection of our justice system, and that she had excellent advice and support from the firm. Yet, she still ended up dead. Heartbreakingly, this is not the first time a victim has come to law enforcement and the courts for protection and we have been unable to provide it. We remember and mourn the death of the young woman recently shot and killed as she ran into a police station for help enforcing her "Protection From Abuse" (PFA) order. And these are only the cases that make the front page.

I understand there are currently about two thousand outstanding PFA orders issued by Family Court in this state. There were not two thousand deaths on the front page, so maybe they have some effect. But can't we do better?

I do not underestimate the complexity of the problem. Domestic violence is multi-faceted and dynamic, including considerations of both victims' and abusers' actions and self-perceptions. Expensive resources such as shelters, counseling, enough police officers to serve warrants promptly, enough officers to provide adequate pretrial supervision and enough prison beds for those convicted are all chronically in short supply. Moreover, our justice system is in not well-equipped to deal with the problem. Our legal process is traditionally "reactive" rather than "proactive" in the sense that we only arrest people after a crime has been committed. The system is also traditionally focused on defendants, not victims, although this latter issue has seen some significant refocus in the last couple of decades, with the rise of the Victims' Rights movement. A final, critical complication is that some individuals simply will not be deterred, regardless of the consequences. Still - can't we do better?

In the Report submitted to the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council by Delaware's Fatal Incident Review Team in October of last year, there were three recommendations directed to the Delaware State Bar Association, as follows:

As far as I know, these recommendations were not communicated to the DSBA . I was certainly unaware of them until I began looking into this issue following Ms. Dawkins' death. I have now contacted the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council about working together with the Bar Association to follow up on the recommendations, and hope to have further information available by the time of next month's IN RE:. In addition, I have asked the Section on Women and the Law to consider taking a leadership role in addressing these issues for the Bar. At the Section meeting last month, a lively discussion generated ideas about educating law firms (did you know that a large proportion of domestic violence victims are actually assaulted in the workplace?), working with existing organizations that are dedicated to domestic violence prevention and other possibilities. We owe it to Stacy Dawkins to pursue these ideas. Can't we do better? I think we can - and must.

To return to Ms. Dawkins, I understand that the Bayard Firm has established a fund to provide for the higher education of her two children, Miles - now six, and Shanay - now 12. If you would like to make a donation, checks should be made payable to The Bayard Firm/ Stacey W. Dawkins Children's Memorial Fund, and forwarded to 222 Delaware Ave., Suite 900, P.O. Box 25130, Wilmington, DE 19899. Please contribute generously.

Return to December 2002 Table of Contents.