Checks & Balances

The Courts have always set precedences for various caselaw on a diverse array of matters. It is quite difficult to keep up with all the law changes; even if you got every digest publication produced and put on the shelves.

Within an organization that I am involved with in Williamson County, Texas, they are considering getting a Court Watch group organized. Court Watch is a group of volunteers that go to various court rooms and write up what they see in the Courtroom. The primary focus would be domestic violence and sexual assault issues; however, these groups could easily have focuses on a variety of issues. It is said that there are statitics on increased conviction rates where the Court Watch group volunteers are organized.

It seems like a good idea in order to ensure that those who abuse, neglect, abandon or sexually assault others dont end up getting a mere slap on the hand.

The people in this Nation have come a long way since the 1980s where it became more of a focus upon the awareness of these problems existing. Statistics are now seeing a decrease of domestic violence in many areas with the increased awareness; however, we have to ensure that the courts do their job and not let these violators get away with their criminalistic acts. To break the cycle, the victim isn't the only one that needs to break the cycle by not becoming a victim anymore; the cycle needs to be broken through many spokes of the wheel to ensure complete anilation of the problem (or, at least, as complete an anilation as one can expect). It may never be completely wiped out of existence, but we can certainly strive for it -- right???

Some other websites to check out (just to get you started)on these issues:

Eagle Forum's Court Watch
Court Watchers Changing Courthouse Rules
Supreme Court Watch (Holt, Rinehart and Winston)
Results of Silent Witness National Initiative