Protection for Battered Women

CWL joined a host of organizations, including other bar associations such as San Francisco’s Queens Bench Bar Association, supporting legal protections for battered women in an amicus brief filed in Blumhorst v. Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles, 126 Cal. App. 4th 993 (2005). Plaintiff Eldon Ray Blumhorst sued 10 battered women’s shelters, alleging that each one had discriminated against him on the basis of sex by failing to provide shelter and support services to “battered men.” In addition to suing the Shelters, plaintiff alleged California and federal equal protection causes of action against the County of Los Angeles and the State of California Department of Health Services.

The amicus brief CWL joined addressed the broad public policy considerations raised by this case, specifically that (1) the rationale to fund women-only shelters is sound in light of the fact that women are disproportionately the targets of domestic violence; (2) battered women are better served by women-only shelters; and (3) the financial viability of the Shelters would be compromised if denied State funding.

The Court of Appeal sided with the Shelters, dismissing the case because Blumhorst lacked standing – Blumhorst did not allege that he was either a current victim of domestic violence or that he was likely to be such a victim in the future. Accordingly, he was not entitled to “tester” standing. The ruling in this case is a major victory for battered women and children in the ongoing fight to preserve the legal and societal protections afforded them.