Texas District Attorney Candidate Says Domestic Violence Is 'Overrated' or a Sex Thing
Lloyd Oliver, a Democratic candidate for District Attorney in Harris County, Texas, doesn't think domestic violence is a real problem. He indicated to the Texas Observer that if elected, he'd move funding away from domestic violence to other issues. Harris County happens to have the highest rate of domestic homicides in Texas.
In an interview with the Observer's Emily Deprang, released Wednesday, Oliver said that “family violence is so, so overrated." Oliver, 70, has been a criminal defense attorney for 40 years. He's made unsuccessful bids for public office before, mostly to drum up business for his law firm.
And this isn't the first time he's espoused his views about domestic violence — in 2012, he said on a Texas radio show that victims should "maybe learn how to box a little better." When confronted about this statement on a PBS broadcast later in the year, he offered this:
There are some people — I don’t understand it — but part of their making love is beat up one another first. Why do we want to get involved in people's bedrooms?
According to the Observer, Oliver then went on to explain that taxpayer money and jail space should be reserved for "baby rapers."
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Oliver will face former prosecutor Kim Ogg in the Democratic primary on March 4. It may seem like his campaign is dead in the water, but he already won the Democratic nomination for Harris County D.A. in 2012. The Republican candidate prevailed in the general election.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/02/texas-district-attorney-candidate-says-domestic-violence-overrated-or-sex-thing/358280/
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