A Judge’s Guide

how rarely courts seem outraged. Given that many who batter adult partners also harm children
in the home and the concomitant system inaction, the overlap warrants legislative action in the
form of enhanced penalties to signal its importance.
In State v. Cress, the victim’s protective order petition included a sworn statement that the
defendant had stalked her and tried to kidnap her children. Afterward the defendant was
arrested for breaking into the victim’s home. From jail, the defendant called her to say he
would not disseminate pictures of her using drugs if she would “not get him in trouble.” 79 At
his behest, the defendant’s mother and brother spoke to the victim about “dropping the charges”
and the defendant gave his brother an extensive list of retaliatory actions he would take against
the victim. After this incident but before the trial, the victim and defendant married, and she
disavowed the previous sworn statement at trial. 80 Although the case does not specify, it is a
valid assumption that victim’s children were present when the defendant attempted to kidnap
them, as well as when he broke into their home. Initially rejected for insufficiency of the
evidence, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the appellate court’s dismissal. 81
V. CULTURAL COMPETENCE MUST BE REQUIRED, WITH ON-GOING
TRAINING AND GUIDANCE FOR ALL INTERVENERS.
A. All interveners must ensure that their staffs reflect the diversity of the communities
they serve. Victims, offenders and their children report increased confidence in providers who
look like them and share their backgrounds. It is also important that staff and clients have
access to publications coming out of communities of color to provide a more balanced view. In
addition to the usual Newsweek or Better Homes and Gardens magazines, offices should add
those periodicals focusing on people of color, such as Essence, Jet, Latina, Hispanic, Asian
American, Ebony, Emerge, etc. The presence of magazines from communities of color can help
send the message that your office embraces diversity and is committed to being educated about
how to improve its practices.
B. Supervisors should ensure on-going training on cultural competence. Without
additional training, many interveners (especially whites) base their opinions on stereotypes and
misinformation prevalent in our culture. The William Monroe Trotter Institute has documented
that eighty-five percent of the information about people of color, disseminated by major media
outlets, is negative. 82 Such biased misinformation cannot help but impact the professional
decisions being made regarding hiring, firing, promotions, etc. As legal scholar Richard
Delgado articulates, “white people rarely see acts of blatant or subtle racism, while minority
people experience them all the time.” 83 Thus, employers must ensure that they make available
to staff publications from communities of color (a few of the mainstream ones are listed in a.),
and that these are available in court and service agencies’ waiting areas.
79
State v. Cress, 858 N.E.2d 341 (Ohio 2006) The defendant admitted to police officers that he was using the
photographs as a “scare tactic against her.”
80
Id.
81
Id.
82
See Kirk A. Johnson, MEDIA IMAGES OF BOSTON’S BLACK COMMUNITY, A RESEARCH REPORT,
William Monroe Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Boston (1987).
83
Delgado supra note 7 at 407.
241