Editorial: Domestic violence law needs tweaking

Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002 | 9:29 a.m.

This week the Nevada Supreme Court's Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Review Commission recommended that the Legislature make modest changes to the state's domestic violence law so prosecutors and judges would have more discretion in how they handle these cases.

Under existing law, a domestic violence charge can't be negotiated down to a lesser offense -- even if there may not be enough evidence to gain a conviction. The review commission believes it would be better to at least obtain a lesser conviction so that the abuser can be punished and possibly put in a treatment program, such as for substance abuse. Domestic violence wasn't taken seriously enough in the past, and we believe that the vigorous prosecution of spousal abusers is long overdue. Letting this crime go unpunished not only can result in more serious injuries if the attacks continue, but it ultimately can result in murder. Still, no amount of justice will be gained if someone who has committed a crime escapes punishment entirely because the bar has been set too high to get a conviction.

The commission also believes the minimum penalty provision of the domestic violence law should be changed. Someone convicted of domestic violence now has to spend at least 48 hours in jail and perform 48 hours of community service. The commission instead believes that a judge should be able to pick either community service or jail time, not necessarily both. It's hard to imagine someone convicted of domestic violence not being required to do both, but this is a situation where the judge ultimately should have the final say. Our laws shouldn't tie the hands of judges -- or prosecutors -- as they try to make sure that justice is served.