It is a sad day for liberty in our country when a disabled Harvard professor is arrested in his home after a long trip for being cranky with police. And, it is a sadder day when the police department can’t find the grace to apologize.
Good questions. I think most women who experience domestic violence would like to know the answers. As I read and digested the article, I realized the Vernetta’s story is all our stories. We are conditioned by the system to think we’re the only ones who think the system doesn’t work. The truth is that it doesn’t work for most of us. “Fell through the cracks,” is a phrase that sets my teeth on edge. Callous indifference is more accurate.
Vernetta is a perfect example of an advocate for domestic violence. She has done everything right, and the most important thing she’s done is that she never gave up.
I am very concerned that the “blue wall” of protection surrounding her abusive former brother-in-law and Alaska state trooper Mike Wooten was a major factor in Gov. Palin’s decision to resign. If a state governor can’t effectively protect her sister from an abusive cop, where do the rest of us go for protection when the cops are corrupt?
It took seven years and two trips to the appellate court for Vernetta Cockerham to receive justice. About 45 supporters wearing puple and white ribbons came to the preliminary hearing at the Yadkin County, NC court house.
Mike Dowd is my hero. He’s a New York attorney who has taken on sexual-predator priests, and he’s representing Barbara Sheehan. He also founded the Women’s Justice Center at Pace […]
Yes, everyone tells us to leave. But, nobody tells us how. That’s what this web site is about. We need to figure it out, and those of us who have lived to tell the tale must leverage our professional expertise to help the women and children walking in our shoes until the violence stops.
Anne Caroline Drake 