US panel to study family violence

Attorney General William French Smith announced Monday the formation of a government panel on family violence. Mr. Smith named Detroit police chief William Hart as head of the nine-member commission, which will spend six months studying domestic violence in the United States and issue recommendations on what to do about it.

There are few statistics on family violence, Assistant Attorney General Lois Herrington said. She added that some states do almost nothing about domestic violence, leaving the family to deal with the problem. The panel is expected to look at abuse of spouses, abuses of the elderly, and child molestation.