Monday, May 02, 2005

On The Mark -- Sorry Ladies, Roosters Come First

If you live in South Carolina, anyway. Recently, the state’s House Judiciary Committee stopped a bill to increase penalties for wife battering. At the same time, they approved a bill that made cock-fighting a felony.

You don’t have to read that paragraph again. You got it right the first time, as unbelievable as it is.

Here’s what one assemblyman, John Graham Altman, had to say about the wife-beating bill that he played a big part in defeating: He said the bill wasn’t necessary because a battered woman should never go home to get hit again. When a newswoman asked him what was worth more – a gamecock’s life or a woman’s life – Altman reportedly replied, “You’re not very bright, you’ll just have to live with that.”

By the way, this is the same assemblyman who proposed a “Choose Death” license plate for pro-choice drivers, among other crazy things.

Republicans in the state are re-thinking the wife-battering bill and looking at new legislation that would make domestic violence a felony on the third offense. Believe it or not, that would be an improvement over what’s on the books right now.

Yes, this is the 21st Century.

1 comment:

Greg said...

I didn't realize other states in the nation were as screwed up as Arizona. Here in Hell it's currently worse to abuse a dog than rape your wife. Rape is a felony, but spousal rape is a misdemeanor. They finally got around to getting a bill written making it a felony, so we're all hoping that it doesn't get killed on its way to the governor (a woman) who will sign it quick-like. Wow. I wonder how many states have idiotic laws like this?