Governor Christie, Ray Rice and the State Obligation to Address Domestic Violence

There is a substantial literature on state accountability for domestic violence as a matter of human rights.  In particular, the human rights regime calls on governments to act affirmatively and with due diligence in addressing the “5 ps”: prevention, protection, prosecution, punishment, and provision of redress.

Contributing editor Penny Venetis, Director of Rutgers Human Rights Clinic, and Carol Robles Roman, President of Legal Momentum, invoke this acccountability in their op-ed, published in Monday’s Bergen County Record, addressing New Jersey’s obligation in the Ray Rice case.  The professional football player knocked his girlfriend unconscious in an elevator in Atlantic City, and the incident was caught on tape.  Venetis and Robles Roman argue that Governor Chris Christie cannot treat this as a private incident, but that the state has an important role to play in prosecuting Rice as well as using this moment to expand public education to prevent violence against women.