Court Opinion

ID: 9530794
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:03:39.414554+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:14.984504
License: Public Domain

BROOK, J.,
concurring.
While I agree with the majority’s interpretation of Ind.Code 33-19-6-13 as that statute currently reads, I write to urge legislative action to correct what may well have been an inadvertent oversight on the part of our legislature. The legislature, in imposing the domestic violence prevention and treatment fee (as well as the similar child abuse prevention fee), has been forward-looking in its efforts to remedy the grave societal ill of domestic abuse. To reflect truly the reality of many Indiana households, however, there must be a recognition that the definition of “domestic” violence should encompass violence against and between adults who live together in a household, regardless of marital status. The instant case presents a particularly poignant example of the necessity for this broader definition.
This definitional change would not run counter to the majority’s valid recognition of the legislative prerogative to limit the conferral of spousal rights and benefits to those who are legally married. The domestic violence prevention and treatment fee is not a right or benefit conferred on the victim, but rather a penalty exacted by and on behalf of the State, in recognition of the destructive social effects of domestic violence.