The Federal Violence Against Women Act passed in September 1994 was a historic legislative enactment that recognized the relationship between gender-based violence and women’s equality and addressed States’ failure to provide adequate legal redress to victims. The Supreme Court struck down this Federal civil rights remedy in United States v. Morrison in 2000. The Court determined that Congress lacked the necessary authority despite evidence considered by Congress documenting the economic impact of domestic assault and States’ failures. The Morrison decision is remarkable in what it reveals about the legal status of women as mediated in multiple levels of judicial transactions. The decision also indicates attitudes ingrained in the judicial culture in that the Supreme Court used legal doctrines derived from and analogous to the arguments that State courts had used. Therefore, legal practitioners need to use general legal strategies and specific tactics to create courts that are more responsive to the needs of battered women. Doing so involves a case plan that conveys the battered woman’s narrative, obliges a court to hear evidence, and provides background to aid understanding of the context of domestic violence and its link to social issues. Obtaining specific legal remedies will provide women with the resources they need to make independent choices about their lives and safety and will gradually change the legal culture while changing public values and concerns. Footnotes