Earlier this week, the City Council of Topeka, Kan. voted to decriminalize domestic violence. That surprising decision came as part of a budget stand-off between the city and the county: After the county cut the District Attorney’s budget, the DA stopped prosecuting misdemeanor domestic violence cases from Topeka. To send a message, the city voted to take the local law against domestic violence off the books – forcing the county to handle all domestic violence cases. Topeka City Council member Karen Hiller voted to repeal the domestic violence law. Thomas Sugure, history professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “The Origins of the Urban Crisis” studies the economic pressures felt by cities around the country.
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