In Support of the Violence Against Women Act
Resolution 2: In Support of the Violence Against Women Act
WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices (Conference) recognizes that domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking endanger lives and have significant impacts on individual and family well-being, child welfare, economic security, public safety, and criminal justice; and
WHEREAS, the Conference acknowledges that no single institution or branch of government in isolation can adequately respond to interpersonal violence, and that an effective intervention requires the concerted and collaborative efforts of all branches of government at all levels (federal, state, and local), communities, and private service providers; and
WHEREAS, the Conference has in previous resolutions, expressed its support for efforts to address the problem of interpersonal violence in our society; and
WHEREAS, the Conference is committed to working with the other federal, state and local level branches of government in their respective roles to eliminate interpersonal violence; and
WHEREAS, the Congress has specifically recognized the important role of courts in addressing interpersonal violence; and
WHEREAS, recognizing that interpersonal violence requires an extraordinary response by the courts to increase victim safety and offender accountability, the Conference
- has endorsed a Conference of State Court Administrators' Policy Paper, Safety and Accountability: State Courts and Domestic Violence identifying new approaches to cases of interpersonal violence;
- was instrumental to the multidisciplinary strategic planning platform of the National Leadership Summit on State Court Responses to Domestic Violence (2010) and the Workshop for State Court Violence Against Women Points of Contact (2015); and
- has supported the institutionalization of Violence Against Women Points of Contact (VAW POC) in state court administrative offices to serve the vital role of connecting courts to resources and multidisciplinary collaborations to improve court responses to interpersonal violence; and
WHEREAS, state courts have effectively used federal grant funds to implement improved practices, procedures, and other systems reforms and collaborations, and continue to meaningfully contribute to the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act to meet the needs of individual states through efforts such as judicial and court staff training, domestic violence courts, and coordinated community responses; and
WHEREAS, the Violence Against Women Act authorizes grant programs designed to develop and expand the nation's multidisciplinary capacity to reduce domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking by strengthening services to victims and holding offenders accountable; and
WHEREAS, Congress has appropriated federal funds to assist states in implementing the provisions and programs of the Violence Against Women Act;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference of Chief Justices urges Congress to continue to support the provisions and programs of the Violence Against Women Act and to provide sufficient federal funding to all entities involved in addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference of Chief Justices encourages Congress to sustain and ensure that state courts are able to access the federal grant funds specifically targeted to assist state courts, including allocating funds directly to state courts when the purpose of the funds is to assist state courts to implement the provisions and programs of the Violence Against Women Act.
Adopted as proposed by the CCJ Courts, Children and Families Committee at the Conference of Chief Justices 2017 Midyear Meeting on February 1, 2017.