Ross Mirkarimi, the long-time San Francisco progressive politician who, after being termed out as District Five Supervisor, was elected to be San Francisco's Sheriff, only to be suspended from his job, by court stay-away order separated from his wife Eliana Lopez (who moved to her native home Venezuela January 13th, 2012), and all after an New Year's Eve day argument that turned violent enough for Lopez...
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Hi Zennie,
Thank you for posting this. I can't say Ross Mirkarimi was ever a friend of mine or one of my favorite politicians, but what has been done to him and his family is reprehensible. Eliana Lopez's wishes were totally ignored, not only by her "friend"/attorney Ivory Madison, but more critically by the criminal justice system. Governments have no business prosecuting people when the alleged victims do not wish to press charges. It is important that victims be allowed to offer forgiveness, and police and prosecutors have plenty of other cases that need their attention.
I further find this whole notion that most women in domestic violence situations become self-deluded mental children incapable of acting in their own interests to be incredibly patronizing and sexist. If the domestic violence statistics are to be believed, only a tiny percentage of the huge number of such cases that exist are actually life-threatening or anything close to that, and my best guess is that as a prominent local official if nothing else, Ross was unlikely to seriously harm Eliana. I suspect that she recognized this and it played a part in her decision to let it go.
We as a society -- or at least the segment of society that is politically involved -- seem to have become so sensitized to the issue of domestic violence that it has become difficult for some to see how a person might rationally choose to stay in a relationship despite occasional physical abuse of this sort, just as many people choose to stay in relationships despite incurring emotional suffering that "hurts" *more* than such physical abuse would. I have been in relationships where I would've much rather been grabbed roughly by the arm so that it left a bruise, for example, than had a partner say something that was emotionally painful to hear. I realize that what people *say* is freedom of speech and cannot and should not be legally controlled, whereas initiating physical violence can and should be legally prohibited, however I still think it is sometimes worthwhile to consider these things in perspective as far as the relative effects they *actually have on people*. Do I condone physical abuse? Absolutely not. But I do acknowledge that from Eliana's perspective, staying with the father of her child, her husband who brought her to this country, may be worth the occasional bruise. Absent any evidence of real mental incapacity on her part, no one else is in a place to make that decision for her.
Did you just join this list, by the way? I don't recall seeing you post here before. If so, welcome! Are you a Libertarian, or what are your political leanings? Do you have any information on how we can best support Sheriff Mirkarimi? I may be one of the few folks in town who is even more keen on having him in office now than I was when I voted for him, because I think a sheriff who has been run through the wringer of the "justice" system himself is likely to be have more understanding and compassion for the plight of others up against the frightening police power of the State. I suspect this is a large part of the reason why action was taken to remove him as sheriff, despite the fact that the criminal case against him obviously had zero to do with his role as a law enforcement official.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Very good essay
Thank you
Sam Sloan
I basically agree with Starchild, but........Ross Mirkarimi is a progressive
liberal politician. He has fathered lots of laws that involve the government in
things that it has no business being involved in. If he is the victim of
intrusive government involvement, then justice has been done. The birds of
liberal activism have come home to roost.
Chances are the govenment involvement in domestic violence cases were sponsored
by liberal progressive politicians..........just like Ross Mirkarimi.
Les Mangus