Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

On June 22, 1999, Simon Gonzales abducted his three daughters from their mother's residence in Castle Rock, Colorado, in violation of a domestic violence restraining order.' Jessica Gonzales repeatedly called the local police department and asked them to locate her husband and children to enforce the order.' The police failed to respond, though they were obligated under state law to arrest any individual who violated a restraining order.3 Mrs. Gonzales grew increasingly concerned and telephoned the police repeatedly, explaining Mr. Gonzales's precarious mental state and the unusual phone calls she received from Mr. Gonzales's girlfriend, regarding his behavior.' The police dismissed Mrs. Gonzales's claims, as they tended to other business, including a search for a missing dog., Nearly seven hours after her initial plea for help, Mrs. Gonzales went to the police station and once again explained the danger of the situation. She requested that Mr. Gonzales be arrested for violating the terms of the restraining order. Detective Ahlfinger told Mrs. Gonzales that he would attempt to locate Mr. Gonzales and her daughters.' However, instead of taking steps to ensure the safety of the missing children, Detective Ahifinger went to dinner.' Approximately two hours after Mrs. Gonzales's visit to the police station, Mr. Gonzales arrived at the Castle Rock Police station at 3:25 AM, and a shootout ensued.' The police immediately killed Mr. Gonzales; the bodies of the murdered Gonzales children - Leslie, 7, Katheryn, 8, and Rebecca, 10 - were found in the back of his pickup truck.' Mrs. Gonzales's demands to see her children were ignored. She was not informed that her daughters were dead for approximately another four hours."o Instead, Mrs. Gonzales was detained by the district attorney and interrogated by Castle Rock police for over ten hours as a possible suspect for the murder of her daughters." Mrs. Gonzales sued the Castle Rock Police Department, and certain individual officers under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 2 Her claims were dismissed by the District Court, reinstated by the Court of Appeals, but ultimately rejected by the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2005.

The story of Jessica Lenahan, formerly Gonzales, is particularly significant because the Court's decision highlights the failure of law enforcement officials and the court system to protect women from their abusers. Since Mrs. Gonzales's restraining order was not mandatorily enforceable under the law, she did not have a property right in the restraining order. As a result, there was no violation of due process.

This note will use the Jessica Lenahan story as a lens to examine the failure of law enforcement officials and the judiciary to enforce legal measures that protect women against domestic violence and the human rights framework as a potential solution. Section two considers the history of coverture and its role in gender-based violence today. Section three examines the social phenomenon of violence and how economics, traditional gender expectations, social institutions, and law enforcement are all implicated in perpetuating domestic violence. Section four returns to the tragic case of Jessica Gonzales and seeks to understand how victims of violence were stripped of constitutional protection of their rights. Finally, section five considers the failures of domestic law, including groundbreaking legislation like the Violence Against Women Act, to adequately address domestic violence. This section explores the possibilities of the human rights framework, the opportunities for justice that international human rights courts offer to victims, and the heightened protections that international laws, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women and the Inter-American Declaration of the Rights of Man, offer victims of domestic violence.

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