A Review Essay On The Tracy Thurman Story: A Cry For Help

A Review Of The Tracy Thurman Story: A Cry For Help

Tracey Thurman was an everyday Connecticut homemaker who, throughout her matrimony, suffered atrociously from her husband’s mistreatment's. The abuses climax in a single gory night when Buck Thurman stabs his alienated wife 13 times. The police hesitantly arrested Buck not until they saw the victim in a devastating health. Tracey magnificently sued the officers in 1989. The resulting consequence was the Thurman Law, which called for compulsory arrests in similar cases such as wife beating in Connecticut and other varied states. Nancy McKeon, who features as Tracey Thurman in A Cry for Help, the play as made in the hope of preventing Buck’s freedom from prison.

In the outcome of Tracy Thurman's effective lawsuit against a city police department, Connecticut's governor came up with a task force in response of the state’s domestic violence cases. The resulting law aimed at effective attendance to victims and detailed follow up on elated cases. In 1986, Connecticut's Family Violence Prevention and Response Act took effect. Its provisions dictated mandatory arrest and immediate arraignment in court. Options available for offenders were pre-trial education for new offenders. Reformers in their vibrant claims, depicted violence on women as a form of sex discrimination and foresaw the reinforcement of the Law. Tracey Thurman eminently sued the authorities for recurrentlyignoring her pleas to protect her against her partner. The police’s defiance was a form of gender discrimination. The police discriminated Mrs Thurman because she was a woman.

In her lawful suit, Tracey stated that her constitutional rights were defiled. The Fourteenth Amendment, does not state, in part, "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. Tracey Thurman purported that the failure of police to arrest abusive partners, depicted a genuine failure in provision of protection for everyone. The court granted Tracey Thurman $2.3 million in compensatory injuries. Following this court verdict, the Connecticut legislature embraced a more inclusive domestic violence law. Twelve months after the new law took effect, the figure of domestic violence attacks reported amplified by 92 %.

Tracey with the help of her attorney was able to keep at pace with her quest for justice. Disability was the life-generated risk inflicted on Mrs Thurman(Davies, 1998). This misfortune did not deter her from pursuing justice to the letter against the police. The lawyer tirelessly foresaw justice awarded to the victim. In the previous encounters after the increased batteries, Tracey proceeded with much caution even when Buck approached for second chances. Her priority rested with the safety of her child. She pioneered the grant of full custody of their son after the hard-earned divorce. Among Tracey’ safety plans were calling the police upon attacks as they were happening. The gesture was futile because rarely did the police respond. Another move was filing a restraint order curtailing Mr Buck’s access to his son. Mrs Thurman did this in the hope of reducing contact with the barterer. Essentially the best safety plan was refusing to see him and giving in into his apologies.

Tracey was a woman of substance, strong in her precepts and very brave in defence of her rights and the good of her child. The police department of Torrington failed in implementation of justice to the afflicted. The psychological torture that Mrs Thurman endured in the quest of her protection was worse than any woman would empathise in the hands of their partners. The victim felt discriminated upon as a citizen. Incidentally, a movie called "A Cry for Help”, for those who wish to re-live the story of Tracey Thurman’s former dreadful being, was crafted(Davies, 1998).

 

City executives and police officers are under an affirmative obligationto see though every person’s safety keeping in the society.Every law should be applicable to all citizens including those under threats by their intimate partners or those women in domestic relationships. If officials suspect the possibility of assaults on women in domestic relationships, they are responsible to gather the necessary measuresto put the suspected victim in safe hands or environment. Women should have peace knowing they can depend on the authorities when seeking protection. Mrs Thurman hopelessly turned to the police for she knew that as their duty until the police failed her.           

Police officer may not meaningfully refrain from intrusion in such violence, and may inevitably decline to make an arrest simply because the accoster and his victim live in marriage. Such indecisiveness on the part of the officer is a rejection of the equal protection of the regulations.For the central district court, there could be little query that "such inaction on the part of the police was a denial of the equal defence of the laws.” The officers could not assert that they were endorsing domestic harmony by ceasing from interference in a spousal dispute because investigation had convincingly demonstrated that police failure supports the perpetuation of violence. There could be no objection, the court settled, that the city of Torrington, through its police department, had "tolerated a pattern or practice of affording insufficient protection or no protection at all, to women who protested of having been battered by their spouses or others with whom they have had close associations.” The police had, for that reason, failed in their obligation to protect Tracey Thurman and suing them was justified.

Endless comments could be made on the poor performance and failure of the police,  the principles that permitted it to happen, the sections of paper called "orders of protection "that are not valuable upon the paper in which  they are written, and the unnecessary suffering, trauma  and near lethal injuries suffered by Tracey. The point that the court, in its insight under the Fourteenth Amendment unlocked the door to "a little piece of justice” and condemned the ineffectual, ignorant, and seemingly blind police force is still somehow little consolation for many victim women and their families. Money can help, but compensation on the blemishes, lifelong ordeal, terror, and toll on the human body and soul is unattainable.

Current interventions tend to focus on more than usual tactics to sway the attacker away. They include measures like changing the locks, calling the police, and getting ready to flee in case of an emergency attack. All the above measures are less effective. The world should implement strategies that are more human and provide a life plan not just to respond to physical violence. Mrs. Tracey Thurman stands as a courageous memory in her pursuit of justice. She led an exemplary life that many victims embrace in similar calamities (Davies, 1998).

References

Davies, J. (1998). Safety Planning with Battered Women: Complex Lives/Difficult Choices. hartford: SAGE.