Michelle Kaminsky provides a thoughtful and candid exploration of the legal dilemmas facing battered women based on the compelling stories of her cases.
—Elizabeth Schneider author of Battered Women and Feminist Lawmaking
Her extraordinary book, Reflections of a DV Prosecutor: Suggestions for Reform, uses actual case history accounts to take us through the labyrinth of pain and fear. If you want to know what is wrong, and what needs to be done, here are the answers.
—Donna Ferrato photographer and author of Living with the Enemy
NPR's Tell Me More
Michelle's interview with Celeste Headlee on NPR.
The Judith Regan show
Michelle's interview with Judith Regan on SiriusXM.
WFAN Public Affairs
Michelle's interview with Bob Salter.
YWCA
Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence
UJA-Federation Task Force
on Family Violence
Temple Beth Emeth
inMotion
Hadassah
Bluestockings Bookstore
NYC Administration for Children's Services
Gender Fairness Committee 12th Judicial District
#RingtheBell - One million men. One million promises (recording)
Michelle Kaminsky takes the reader through an empirical journey in which she reminiscences on the last 20 years as a domestic violence prosecutor. She does not hesitate in descriptively narrating cases in which she was involved with, some of which are the most horrific crimes committed between parties in intimate relationships. With every case, Kaminsky describes how the brutal reality of domestic violence becomes more dramatic, especially where the defendants of such crimes are let off and set free to re-offend again.
—Nadia Zaman
Reflections of a Domestic Violence Prosecutor: Suggestions for Reform, by Michelle Kaminsky is a thought-provoking depiction of a prosecutor’s experience with female victims of intimate partner violence and the criminal justice system. The reader quickly begins to sympathize with prosecutors like Kaminsky who have been forced to confront their own stereotypes about battered women.
—Brenda Russell, PhD
Partner Abuse, Volume 4, Number 4, 2013
The slim, self-published volume...is a treasure of knowledge. Kaminsky has been prosecuting domestic violence for 15 years, and her book is a case study in system failure. Using her past prosecutions—and in some cases, her own failures—Kaminsky shows how the system still fails abuse victims. Kaminsky is a lawyer, yes, but her writing is engaging, and she won me over in the preface, which is a near-confessional about her own biases at the beginning of her career. This little book is vital to understanding what support abused women have—and what they still need.
—Jina Moore, Nonfiction Editor
Editors’ Picks: Springtime Reads
guernicamag.com
As Michelle Kaminsky writes in her book, Reflections of a DV Prosecutor: Suggestions for Reform, these situations are complex and laws and systems, outdated, are in dire need of revision.
—Soraya Chemaly
50 Facts About Domestic Violence
huffingtonpost.com
Kaminsky's book, Reflections of a DV Prosecutor: Suggestions for Reform, offers common-sense changes for the criminal justice system that will improve outcomes for victims.
—CCADV
Kaminsky also points to potential routes to legal reform, including the creation of a judicial screening committee that includes a range of participants in the criminal justice system and domestic violence organizations and the introduction of new evidence laws that will allow evidence of a defendant’s prior history of abuse. In spite of the current challenges, Kaminsky believes prosecution can lead to better outcomes for domestic violence victims, concluding, “If we can transform one life, then our work is not in vain.”
—Brooklyn Law School
BLS Alumni Celebrate the
Publication of New Books
brooklaw.edu
Additional mentions:
Goodreads
goodreads.com
The Liz Library
thelizlibrary.org
Every Mother Counts
everymothercounts.org
The Advocates for Human Rights
stopvaw.org
Amazon reviews:
This is not another glorified war story. Kaminsky certainly has every right to tout her long list of guilty verdicts as one of the best prosecutors...Yet instead she chose to painfully recall and bring to light the cases in which even her passion, skills and experience could not overcome the inherent injustices in a system that often blames and revictimizes the victim while rewarding the perpetrator.
Smart, well written and insightful. Kaminsky's in depth examination of the criminal justice system is compelling and easy to read. Reflections of a Domestic Violence Prosecutor is a real and raw analysis of life in the trenches, illustrating the challenges and failures of the system and providing critical suggestions for change. The lessons of this book are accessible and important for anyone who cares about victim based work.
This is a must read for anyone who works with domestic violence victims, including prosecutors, advocates, and civil attorneys. Kaminsky, a seasoned...prosecutor, critiques the criminal justice system and discusses its limitations and strengths through interesting case studies. Her insights are helpful to any practioner. I highly recommend this book.
This book is a must read for anyone working within the criminal justice system and for those who want to understand this challenging work.
