Traditional views on wife battering and the criminal justice system's role are based on the Roman concept of the patriarchial family in which the father or husband exercised life and death control over family members as forms of property. This system has been mitigated over the centuries through the creation of the concept of divorce, the institution of women's property rights, and the abolition of physical punishment as a husband's right. These changes have been primarily civil in nature, however. The criminal justice system is still limited in its authority to enter into family disputes and is reluctant to use the authority which it has. Police officers often assign low priority to family dispute assistance calls and respond to them slowly. Similarly, prosecutors are reluctant to accept cases for trial in which the complainant may drop charges and the evidence is based on the word of the husband as opposed to that of the wife. Because of the long history of restricting criminal justice system involvement in family affairs, passing and enforcing additional criminal laws against wife battering is likely to be difficult. Instead, civil and matrimonial remedies should be emphasized. Divorce laws should be made more flexible and procedures for obtaining marriage licenses might be made stricter. Self-defense laws should be rewritten to provide more flexible standards in wife battering cases. Battered women should not be forced out of their homes to escape battering; the batterer should be removed instead. Doctors should be required to report suspected battering cases and police should be required to provide faster responses to family dispute calls. Twelve references and three case citations are included.