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THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON May 14, 1996 MEMORANDUM FOR VICKI RADD FROM: ELENA KAGAN EK JENNIFER KLEIN SUBJECT: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EVENTS Attached is a memo from Gail Alexander of the American Bar Association (ABA) proposing ways for the President, in conjunction with the ABA, to highlight the problem of domestic violence and call for greater efforts to combat it. Several of the ABA's proposals would have the President meet with children harmed by domestic violence to share his own experiences and offer his support. The ABA has prepared video materials for professionals working with such children and would like the President to call attention to these materials and reiterate their message. Similarly, the President could spend some time staffing the national domestic hotline, which has received such a good response in the past. The problem with an event of this kind, of course, is that the President does not seem to be doing anything. He is empathizing, but not acting -- and for that reason, such an event may well seem gimmicky. For this reason, we think that this kind of event, if planned at all, must be combined with something else. The most promising proposal involving presidential "action" would have the President challenge the nation's bar associations and attorneys to ensure that all victims of domestic violence receive effective legal representation. The President could call on state and local bar associations, as well as the ABA and Legal Services Corporation, to train private lawyers to handle such cases and then enlist them to do so. (The ABA is already involved in some efforts of this kind). At the same time, the President could call on all lawyers (a call the ABA would join) to participate in these training and representation activities. The President could issue such a challenge directly to the Bar at the ABA's midsummer convention. Alternatively, a special event could be arranged (perhaps involving some conversation with victims, as discussed above) to serve as the forum for the challenge. The ABA also proposes that the President visit a comprehensive domestic violence court, which concentrates on treatment of abusers to help stop violence. Before we can evaluate this proposal, we have to find out much more about how such courts work and how well they succeed in reaching their goals. Such a treatment-oriented approach to the problem may seem insufficiently forceful.