The Feminist Law Professor Who Wants to Stop Arresting People for Domestic Violence
The Feminist Law Professor Who Wants to Stop Arresting People for Domestic Violence
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” – Audre Lorde
Anyway, sorry for playing devil's advocate in this thread lol, kinda hate myself a little for doing it 😂 Especially since the issue is personal for so many, myself included. Mentally, I liken this to how the perfectly reasonable position that maybe the police shouldn't have literal tanks and weapons of war became dumbed down and oversimplified into the slogan "defund the police," when I think a much more effective slogan would have been "demilitarize the police." She has some interesting thoughts on how to tackle this problem, but for better or worse (mostly for worse, it seems...) the most extreme positions she has fall flat with people.
If I may venture into the realm of speculation about her motivations, the fact that she's an academic may lead her to take more extreme/controversial positions for various reasons. Generating buzz, getting attention/funding, pushing the boundaries of discourse, etc. I do think that latter reason is one of the functions that academia performs in society, and it's the role of the practical side of society (e.g. the justice system) to find the compromise between extreme positions that works when actually applied in real life. Unfortunately, in this case, the position she's espousing can lead to obvious and demonstrable harmful outcomes. Does that mean it's irresponsible for her to be pushing it? Kinda, yeah. At the same time, if she had a more moderate position, would this article have been written? Unclear. Separately, there's also an argument (though ymmv on how effective you think it is) for saying that if you're trying to negotiate with someone who disagrees with you, the compromise you land on will be more favorable to you if you start from a more extreme position, versus starting from a more moderate one. Not sure if she actually has such a tactic in mind, but it's a valid one.
Anyway, sorry for playing devil's advocate in this thread lol, kinda hate myself a little for doing it 😂 Especially since the issue is personal for so many, myself included. Mentally, I liken this to how the perfectly reasonable position that maybe the police shouldn't have literal tanks and weapons of war became dumbed down and oversimplified into the slogan "defund the police," when I think a much more effective slogan would have been "demilitarize the police." She has some interesting thoughts on how to tackle this problem, but for better or worse (mostly for worse, it seems...) the most extreme positions she has fall flat with people.
