Domestic Violence Survivor Jailed for Failing to “Protect her Children” from Abuser
(how about jailing the people in the system who failed to protest her and her children from this abuser, who is now FREE?) but, we are told, ad nauseum, ad infinitem, that there is NO war on women) May that judge, and everyone involved, receive everything they deserve.
Domestic Violence Survivor Jailed for Failing to “Protect her Children” from Abuser
Domestic abuse survivor Tondalo Hall has spent the last decade behind bars in a McLoud, Oklahoma prison for “failing to protect” her children from a violent partner.
Robert Braxton, Jr. was arrested in 2004 for breaking the ribs and femur of the couple’s daughter, who was 3 months old at the time. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but ultimately served only two.
Hall, on the other hand, is serving 30 years for not interfering when the child abuse occurred, even though she was a victim of her partner’s violence as well. Hall reports that Braxton had punched and choked her in the past.
Women’s rights group UltraViolet has mobilized to raise awareness of Hall’s case, arguing that the judge’s ruling is unfair and punishes a survivor of domestic violence. The group spearheaded a campaign pressuring Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board to reduce Hall’s sentence. The board denied Hall’s plea for clemency this week.
UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas said in a press release:
Survivors of domestic violence are too often criminalized rather than protected. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board had the responsibility to make things right and they failed … This is not justice. Tondalo’s story is tragic and proves that we have a criminal justice system that would rather imprison domestic abuse survivors than get them the counseling and support they need to heal.
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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/09/25/domestic-violence-survivor-jailed-for-failing-to-protect-her-children-from-abuser/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Wow. I don't even know how to respond to this. It is beyond belief. 
How horrible!
Society puts very harsh judgements on mothers, particularly of course when women of color.
This is, as you say, what often happens to people who are too poor to afford independent/private legal counsel. Additionally, many defendants plead guilty to crimes they haven't committed, just to avoid the possibility of a prison sentence, to get out of jail because they can't afford a high bond, etc., etc., etc. . Our legal system is massively flawed, and her case is just one example.
Poor lady! 
