STRANGULATION: NOW A FELONY

Here is news of a piece of Legislation that should never have taken this long. New York lawmakers have finally approved legislation establishing that strangulation (squeezing someone's throat or covering their nose and mouth to diminish breathing) is a new felony crime of strangulation. You may ask, why would this be addressed at this point, wasn't it always so?

Well, no. Since choking during domestic violence cases is so common it would seem logical to have it part of the assault charge. But since it isn't specifically addressed as a specific crime, attackers end up facing menacing or harassment charges instead. This is no-longer the case.

Judges throughout New York State can now use the incident and the choking of one's partner as an additional tool to better address the dangerous issue. Whether it's an act between same gender or mixed couples, the threat of domestic violence is no different and the harm one person can do to another knows no boundaries. What to do about it if it should happen can now be decided more clearly by a judge.

I find it fascinating that this type of heinous act would need to be more defined to get the attention it needs considering the damage that so many perpetrators have done to their victims for so long. Like so many other domestic issues, redefinition seems to be the trend these days and although very late, our lawmakers deserve our thanks on this one.