Illinois NOW: Claims of spousal abuse & threats not such a big deal...

[beagledave]

…well not such a big deal if you’re a candidate for the U.S. Senate who is pro choice.

Meet Blair Hull, Democraic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois. (He is running to fill the seat that Peter Fitzgerald is vacating).

The wife of Democratic Senate candidate M. Blair Hull accused him in 1998 of threatening to kill her, calling her vile names and punching her in the leg – accusations Hull skirted on Friday.

The court records were intially sealed, and Hull was pressing to keep them sealed until mounting pressure caused him to request that they be unsealed.

Story also at the Chicago Tribune (free registration needed)

“I am in great fear that if this court does not enter a protective order in my favor and against Blair, as well as exclude him from my residence in which I am residing with my child … Blair will continue to inflict mental, emotional and physical abuse upon me as he has done in the past,” Sexton alleged to obtain a court order to keep Hull away from her. “At this point, I fear for my emotional and physical well-being, as well as that of my daughter.”

Sexton outlined several incidents in which she accused Hull of becoming violent, profane and verbally abusive. During one, she alleged that he “hung on the canopy bar of my bed, leered at me and stated, `Do you want to die? I am going to kill you…’”

Now. To be fair-- the story, like many domestic disturbance situations, is more complicated than this.

Only once, however, did she accuse him of striking her, which led to his arrest. But authorities declined to press charges against Hull because they determined that “mutual combat” had occurred. Hull said he struck Sexton’s shin in retaliation after she allegedly kicked him.

A Cook County prosecutor “felt she would be unable to sustain a burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt” in the battery case, according to the divorce filing.

and…

The divorce files reveal a discrepancy in what Sexton told Chicago police when they arrested Hull on a battery charge on Feb. 9, 1998, and her sworn testimony on March 12, 1998, when she sought a second protection order against him after the first one was dropped.

And from here, it seems like Hull just has a hard time in general with relationships with women…

“My biggest regret in life is that I don’t have a compatible relationship with a significant other,” said Hull in an interview Friday shortly after he and his ex-wife, Brenda Sexton – whom he married and divorced twice – agreed to let the press review their divorce file.

“I wish I did,” he said. "I’m jealous of those who are able to do so.

Anywho…all of this is interesting fodder for the primaries…but the reaction of Illinois NOW is repulsive.

Bonnie Grabenhofer, president of the Illinois chapter of the National Organization for Women, said the six-year-old allegations are troubling, but there are still reasons to support Hull.

“Domestic violence is never OK,” Grabenhofer said. “We don’t excuse instances of domestic violence.”

Yet Grabenhofer said voters need to balance those private allegations with Hull’s public commitment to women’s issues.

She noted that Hull is a supporter of “reproductive rights,” and that his daughter, Megan, was a plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case that ordered Brown University to reinstate funding for women’s athletic programs

So because Hull is pro choice, he gets more of a pass on this issue?

Does anyone for a moment think that Illinois NOW would not be flaming a pro life candidate with similar baggage?

Does anyone really think that Illinois NOW would downplay the matter as “private allegations” with some some vague comment that “domestic violence is never OK” if the candidate was not pro choice?

The hypocricy is disturbing.

[flickster]

Not surprising. IMHO, NOW lost their credibility during the Clinton years.

[Shodan]

@beagledave

So because Hull is pro choice, he gets more of a pass on this issue?

Yes, he does.

Sexual harassment is subject to the same rules. Compare how Anita Hill is noble, brave, and truthful whereas Paula Jones, Kathleen Wiley, and Juanita Broaderrick are trailer trash.

NOW are hypocrites, and moral prostitutes.

In other news, the sun rose in the east this morning, and testing is being done to determine if the excrement found in the woods is ursine in origin.

Regards,
Shodan

[Kalhoun]

The state of Illinois has never taken domestic violence all that seriously, so it’ll be business as usual, as far as I’m concerned. However, it doesn’t sound like the case against Hull is particularly strong (at least not by the cite posted here). Maybe it wasn’t clear enough in NOW’s eyes to drop an important pro-life candidate.

[beagledave]

@Kalhoun

…an important pro-life candidate.

Heh.

[Kalhoun]

Damnit. You know what I meant. Damnit.

[beagledave]

Well I guess Kalhoun answered my question.

If you’re an “important pro choice candidate”, you get more of a pass from Illinois NOW on charges of serious domestic problems, then if you were a pro life candidate.

Huh.

[cowgirl]

Just wanted to pop in to mention that I (a self-proclaimed feminist) agree wholeheartedly with what Shodan said.

Now that is truly shocking !