Shame on The State. By allowing Will Folks, a criminal domestic battering suspect, a forum, The State is a party to Mr. Folks’ attempts to verbally batter his victim (“My side of the domestic violence story,” Aug. 3). Mr. Folks is still trying to exercise control over the incident, by using his social position as a “respected” public figure, and is abusing his “relationships with members of the media for personal gain.”

Criminal domestic violence is not about “ignorance and depravation” (Mr. Folks’ words); it is about power and control.

In addition to potentially poisoning a jury pool, as he has not pleaded guilty or asked for a jury trial, Mr. Folks is being encouraged to spin his side of the events in public without benefit of the other side of the story. He insists on his innocence, but claims he is going to plead guilty. If he is innocent, I encourage him not to plead guilty.

Attorneys are told not to represent themselves. Perhaps that wisdom should be applied to spin doctors not spinning their own personal issues.

Mr. Folks claimed that he had worked so hard on the new criminal domestic violence bill that becomes law in January 2006. I did not see his face in any of the myriad hearings or events at the State House, but both Gov. Mark Sanford and his wife, Jenny, were avid supporters and took an active role in helping the women of this state achieve a significant victory in the war on domestic violence, for which all of us should be grateful.

Mr. Folks was at the governor’s media event for the signing of the criminal domestic violence bill, and I remember well his compliments and his stated excitement at his upcoming wedding. He is fortunate indeed that the new law does not go into effect until Jan. 1, or he would be facing a much heftier fine.

The S.C. Victim Assistance Network compliments the Columbia Police Department for its by-the-book handling of this case. We also compliment Attorney General Henry McMaster and Solicitor Barney Giese for their excellent policy of not allowing criminal domestic violence offenders off the hook by putting them in pretrial intervention.

If Mr. Folks wants, as he states, “all of us involved in this tragedy to move on,” perhaps he should hush and let that happen.

Ms. Hudson is the public policy coordinator of the S.C. Victim Assistance Network.