|
Lisa
Bloch Rodwin
Guided by a Passion
to Fight for Victims' Rights
Reprinted
with the permission of After 50 News
By Paul
Chimera
In-Focus Columnist
Victims
of domestic violence – in Western New York and, in fact,
across the country – can ultimately thank Lisa Bloch Rodwin’s
mother and grandmother for groundbreaking initiatives that are
easing their pain.
If it
weren’t for her two strong risk-taking role models, Lisa
Bloch Rodwin probably would never have become a prosecuting
attorney and Chief of the Domestic Violence Bureau for the Erie
County District Attorney’s Office.
It was
her grandmother who convinced Rodwin’s grandfather to
flee Nazi Germany in 1938, while the rest of the family stayed
behind. They fled from Berlin to America, along with Rodwin’s
mother, “and managed to survive. The rest of the family
didn’t have the strength to take a risk,” says Rodwin.
Likewise,
her mother became a university professor in an age when practically
everyone else’s mom was a homemaker – yet managed
to effectively juggle her professional career with a commitment
to helping others and to raising a family. The apple-doesn’t-fall-far-from-the-tree
influence trickled down to Lisa, who would go on to graduate
from the University at Buffalo’s law school in 1984, then
ride her passion for helping others to some rather impressive
heights.
As chief
of the Domestic Violence Bureau, she oversees a unit that investigates
and prosecutes crimes involving sexual conduct and/or physical
violence, including rape, sex abuse, child molestation and assault
within the family unit. A prosecutor since she joined the DA’s
office in March of 1985, Rodwin started the first Domestic Violence
unit in New York State, outside of New York City, which led
to a dramatic change in the criminal justice system’s
approach towards family violence.
Judges
treated it as unimportant
“It
used to be that domestic violence was a family matter, not a
criminal justice issue,” Rodwin explains. “It was
a darn shame that dad was beating up mom. But the police and
the district attorney were never involved. If the perpetrator
was arrested, judges treated it as unimportant and often dismissed
the cases. And the police were taught that you filed charges
only if the victim said they wanted the matter to be prosecuted.”
Rodwin
was a leader for the Erie County Coalition Against Family Violence,
which spearheaded an effort that led to a reduction in the family
violence homicide rate. How? By approaching things differently
from the way a standard district attorney would. She didn’t
wait for cases to come to her. Instead, she went out and did
a lot of training, literally in every police department in Erie
County.
“We
were teaching cops a new way to think about and approach these
kinds of investigations, centered on the perpetrator and the
evidence, not on the victim,” Rodwin points out. In addition,
she instituted coordination with other community agencies to
approach the matter in prevention terms, pulling together all
appropriate support services to aid the victim. She was the
first DA to coordinate with Haven House and Crisis Services.
She wrote a host of grants and has arranged for advocates placed
in police departments and courts throughout the county to help
domestic violence victims.
At the
time of our mid-April conversation, Rodwin reports there hasn’t
been a single local domestic violence homicide in 2007. In the
mid-90s, there were some 10 to 15 a year.
Awards
of Excellence,
Distinguished Service
This kind
of success seems to embrace Rodwin and guide her self-described
passion for “helping children and families be safe and
secure in their homes. Safety on the streets means nothing if
you’re not safe behind your front door,” she reasons.
Her success
has not gone unnoticed. She is scheduled to receive an Award
of Excellence from Everywoman Opportunity Center (EOC) during
its 30th anniversary celebration May 3 at Salvatore’s
Italian Gardens in Depew. EOC’s focus is on assisting
women in re-entering the workforce. Ironically, way back in
1978, Rodwin worked on legislation – the Displaced Homemakers
Act – which established these kinds of centers.
She will
also be honored with a Distinguished Service Award by It Happened
to Alexa Foundation, a national foundation she helped found.
It provides funding to families of child abuse and sexual assault
survivors to be with their loved ones during a trial. The award
ceremony is set for June 8 at the Niagara Falls Country Club.
Five years
ago, Alexa – the daughter of Tom and Stacy Branchini of
Lewiston – was brutally raped at knifepoint while a freshman
at Boston University. They caught the perpetrator, and a long,
life-altering trial ensued. Alexa’s parents came with
her to her court appearances, which in themselves were taxing,
since, Rodwin points out, “there’s only one defense,
and that is to attack the victim. It’s the same thing
in domestic violence cases.”
Helped
Raise Hundreds
of Thousands of Dollars
That emotional
strain, especially when the victim is out of town and doesn’t
have a support system, can be unbearable. Add to that the cost
for family members to attend such long-distance trials, and
the difficulty and expense of the situation are compounded.
Through
Rodwin’s efforts, hundreds of thousands of dollars have
been raised and distributed to families of people of all ages
– as young as elementary school age – so these victims
don’t have to be alone. Up to two family members or close
friends are provided airfare, hotel accommodations and food,
allowing victims of such crimes to enjoy a sorely needed support
system.
“There
are already so many mixed emotions in cases like these, because
you know you’re going to be attacked on the witness stand,”
says Rodwin. “People ask, ‘Can I go through this?
Is it worth it to me?’ These victims generally need years
of counseling, because they have to relive the horrors all over
again.”
Rodwin
says the Alexa Foundation can make a world of difference from
the prosecution’s standpoint because it helps the victims
gain strength and holds perpetrators accountable. “These
people are amazingly brave,” she says of such victims.
Recognition
by the media has also come to Rodwin. The victim in a famous
case she prosecuted was recently taped by a crew from the Oprah
Winfrey Show. Rodwin, a judge and a police officer involved
in the case, were also filmed. The victim is being flown to
Chicago to appear on Oprah, and it wasn’t clear at the
time Rodwin and I spoke whether Rodwin herself might also appear
on the show. “I’d love to meet Oprah,” she
enthused.
High-Profile
Case
The unusual,
high-profile case involved one Susan Still, who had been held
a virtual prisoner in her home in Amherst by her 50-year-old
jazz musician husband, who physically and psychologically abused
her. Even the couple’s children were involved, under the
direction of this man – going so far as to videotape an
incident in which their father spent 40 minutes verbally and
physically beating their mother to a pulp.
It was
a “total brainwashing” of the children, Rodwin notes,
and the kids – who felt closer to their father than their
mother – testified on his behalf!
The man
was indicted on 14 counts, including some prior felonies. He
was convicted – despite being convinced no one would believe
his wife – and sentenced to 36 years behind bars. It was,
says Rodwin, the longest sentence in the history of New York
State for a domestic violence case, where the victim had not
died. Both Still and Rodwin were featured on the television
show, 20/20 this past October, interviewed by Diane Sawyer for
a piece on domestic violence.
Oprah
is interested in the case, Rodwin notes, because of the long
sentence, the brainwashing of the children, and the videotaping
incident – all in a middle class suburban home setting.
Elder
Abuse a Key Focus
Rodwin,
whose husband Michael Rickert is a DNA researcher at Roswell
Park Cancer Institute, is equally passionate about elder abuse,
a growing problem with some unique characteristics. Sadly, the
elderly are often afraid to report physical, verbal or financial
abuse for fear they’ll end up in a nursing home. “Elder
abuse is without doubt the most difficult case to prosecute,”
says Rodwin. “That’s because the perpetrator is
generally the one who’s providing the assistance. There’s
a very strong feeling among elder abuse victims that they cannot,
and should not, cooperate in prosecuting a case.”
Rodwin’s
goal is to provide community education, and points out that
about 10 percent of defendants are women, who – because
of their strength limitations – often use knives against
their male victims.
Rodwin
shares these
warning signs for elder abuse:
Bruises,
pressure marks, abrasions may be indicative of physical abuse
or neglect
Unexplained
withdrawal from normal activities, isolation, a sudden change
of alertness or unusual depression may be a sign of emotional
abuse
Sudden
change in financial situation may be the result of exploitation
Bedsores,
unattended medical needs, poor hygiene and unusual weight loss
are indicative of possible neglect
Strained
or tense relationships or frequent arguments between the caregiver
and the elderly person can be a sign of abuse
The victim
seems easily frightened or fearful of the caregiver and is hesitant
to talk openly
Victim
offers implausible stories or makes contradictory statements
about changes in his or her physical condition or financial
situation
Rodwin,
who was named Lawyer of the Year by the Women’s Lawyers
of Western New York in 2005 for her dedication to assisting
families in crisis, says she plans to run for family court,
so she could become more involved with families in a preventive
way. “People know somebody who is a victim of family violence,”
she says. “This problem is so widespread. There is someone
you know that isn’t safe. We all have a responsibility
to know and recognize the signs, and what services are available.”
She and
her husband Michael have two sons. David, 23, teaches English
in Kyoto, Japan, and has been involved in raising money in Cambodia
to build a school for rural children and improve literacy rates.
Benjamin, 19, a sophomore at Boston’s Brandeis University,
majoring in neuroscience, is also active in a campus-wide push
to get the U.S. government to intervene against genocide in
Darfur in Sudan.
Says Rodwin,
who in the little spare time she has loves to read and garden:
“I love living in Western New York, and this community
is just a perfect place for me to go forward to fulfill my passions,
because this community believes in helping others. I can’t
imagine living anywhere else.”
|
