Meeting the Standards

Colorado’s domestic violence laws have procedural distinctions, but research demonstrates the importance of supporting the family while safeguarding the child; systems failing to hold the perpetrator accountable; and systems that retraumatize the family. The research and the statutes are answering different questions. One asks what gets documented and what standards should be applied. The other asks what happens to a family once they enter a courtroom. Colorado has made real, concrete progress on the first question. The international literature is a reminder that progress on the first does not settle the second, and that settling it may not be possible in an adversarial legal system under the Constitution.