USM 0449 ME LawMag - University of Maine School of Law ...

Statistics on
Domestic Violence
in Maine
• Domestic assault as reported
to police occurs every 1 hour,
37 minutes in Maine.
• In 2003, 46 percent of
reported assaults were
domestic assaults, an increase
of 11 percent from 2002.
• In 2004, 11 of the 19
homicides in Maine
(58 percent) were domestic
violence related.
• From 2000-2003, 65 percent
of murdered women were
killed by intimate partners
Source: National Coalition
Against Domestic Violence
For more information on
domestic violence, contact the
Maine Coalition to End Domestic
Violence or call 1 866-83-4HELP
to identify state resources or to
get involved.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE POLICY REFORM FEATURE
for both public and private sector agencies, community groups, employers, and others. She
frequently presents training programs for the Maine Department of Labor’s Workplace
Response to Domestic Violence.
“People’s hackles go up when you bring the issue of domestic
violence up. My ability to develop common ground and deal with
policy came right out of my education from the Law School.”
kate faragher, ’97, community educator for the
violence against women project
An active member of the Women’s Law Association while a law student, Faragher arrived at
the Law School already “interested in women’s plight in society,” she says. Faragher’s legal
training provided the “perfect preparation” for her current work advocating for victims of
violence in court proceedings, conducting intervention programs for batterers and training
for law enforcement personnel, she says. Working with such a wide array of agencies and
individuals, Faragher says that while the climate has changed significantly on this issue, she
still finds her role as an advocate a difficult one. She finds that her skills as a lawyer
contribute to her ability to be more effective in such a challenging role.
“People’s hackles go up when you bring the issue of domestic violence up,” Faragher explains.
“My ability to develop common ground and deal with policy came right out of my education
from the Law School.”
While both Faragher and Luppi maintain that significant things are occurring in Maine to
address domestic violence, there are many challenges ahead. According to Luppi, funding
continues to be a major issue as federal resources for victims’ services dwindles, and both
agree that education and awareness continue to be critical to long-term social change. (See
“Statistics on Domestic Violence in Maine” in sidebar on left.) Both mentioned the state’s efforts
to increase awareness of domestic violence in the workplace as an important step. (See
Attorney General Steven Rowe’s, ’87, article on page 10.) Through such efforts, many graduates
of the Law School are finding themselves connected by their drive to address this issue.
“The number of alumni from the University of Maine School of Law who been able to walk
the walk on this issue is pretty amazing,” Faragher concludes.
Maine Law Professor Explores Dynamics Between Insurance Law and
Domestic Violence
IT WAS DURING THE 1990S, when Jennifer Wriggins, now a Maine Law professor, took
on a pro bono case involving a victim of domestic violence who was serving jail time in a
Massachusetts prison for manslaughter.
A partner at the law firm of Pressman, Kruskal & Wriggins at the time, Wriggins’ client was
one of eight women serving jail time for violent crimes against their batterers, and their
crimes up until that point were not characterized by self defense. Wriggins was one of a group
of attorneys who prepared petitions on behalf of the women to the Massachusetts Governor’s
Council, which has the power to commute sentences or recommend that the Governor
commute sentences.The women’s stories became the subject of an Academy-Award winning
8 MAINE LAW · FALL 2006