Denise Brown
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Denise Brown (born July 29, 1957) is the older sister of the late Nicole Brown Simpson, who was found murdered along with her friend Ronald Goldman. Nicole's former husband, O.J. Simpson, was accused of the murder.
Born in Germany to an American serviceman father and German mother, Denise grew up in Garden Grove, California along with her younger sisters Nicole, Dominique, and Tanya Brown. Denise Brown "led a life remarkable only in its normalcy until June 12, 1994, when her sister Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered" (statement from Nicole Brown Foundation). She is also committed to raising awareness against domestic violence. In 1994, Brown established The Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation in Nicole's memory, to assist victims of domestic violence.
However, the foundation received negative publicity a few years later when its 1998 tax returns showed that it gave only about 3.6 percent of its expenses to charity that year. In response, Denise Brown opened her records to the Los Angeles Times, which concluded that the foundation "has radically cut back on what it's given to charity the last two years -- $5,630 -- while spending more than it ever has in staff salaries, tax records show. The foundation has raised about $800,000, not including interest, since 1994, but in the last two years, its donations have dropped substantially, to about $147,000." The story later states that over the foundation's five years of existence, it has given about 36 percent of what it takes in, still far short of national charity standards. (A well-run organization will give away 70 percent.)
Since early 1995, Brown has traveled to various states speaking on domestic violence. She has addressed university student bodies, men in prison and in batterers' treatment programs, women at risk, church groups, and various educational and legislative forums. She has helped raise funds for local shelters all across the country with her appearances, and has assisted in the success of a major project called the Vine System. She has reported that the program is an automated victim notification service of the release of batterers from jail or prison.
As part of her commitment, Brown has worked to help pass a variety of legislative solutions for domestic violence. One of her most important projects was to lobby on behalf of the Violence Against Women Act. U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania contacted Brown and asked for her assistance on a portion of the bill that was being stalled in committee in the U.S. Senate. With a potential reduction of its federal allocation to domestic violence services, Brown testified to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act. After her testimony, that portion of the bill's funding was increased from $18 million to $32 million. U.S. Senators Biden and Hatch have cited Brown as "having done more for the issue of domestic violence than any other individual."
Brown has made a life-long commitment to educate the public as well as improve the quality of living for women and children who have been victims of domestic violence.
On May 16, 2004, the Associated Press reported that Denise Brown accused Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, of "trashing" her family in her book Without a Doubt.
[edit] External links
- Denise Brown.com
- CNN.com - Denise Brown
- The Nicole Brown Charitiable Foundation
- FoxNews Article on Denise Brown
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