Filling the Gap of Domestic Violence Protection: Returning Human Rights to U.S. Victims

Abstract

The prevalence of domestic violence in the United States indicates a need for increased governmental protection. The current state-based system inadequately serves victims of domestic violence, and previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings indicate that the U.S. Constitution leaves the federal government in an impotent position for providing any form of protection for domestic violence victims. Pursuant to the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, domestic violence violates one’s human rights, fundamental to personhood. By ratifying the American Declaration through the Charter of the Organization of the American States, the United States established it responsibility for protecting U.S. citizens from this human rights violation. Thus, this paper contends that a federal statutory solution creating federal liability against a state for failing to protect domestic violence victims should be enacted in accordance with the United States’ responsibility under the American Declaration.

Keywords: domestic violence, American Declaration, federal domestic violence protection, Morrison v. United States, DeShaney v. Winnebago, Castle Rock v. Gonzales