Using The Law To Help You
Protection or Restraining
Orders
It
is against the law in every state in the United States to
physically hurt another person, no matter how the two are
related. Every victim of domestic abuse has a right to be
protected under the law. There are two kinds of courts
that handle domestic violence, civil court and criminal court.
In civil court you can file for a protective order. This
is a court order that prohibits violence. One of the things the
court can order is that no contact occur between the victim and
the abuser.
In criminal court
the police may arrest anyone who commits a crime.
The State Prosecutor brings criminal charges against those who
commit crimes. If an abuser is convicted of a crime, among
other possibilites, they can be sentenced to jail, probation, or
payment of a fine.
Ask your local domestic violence program who can help you get a
civil protection order and who can help you with criminal
prosecution.
In most places, the
judge can:
Order the abuser to stay
away from you or your children .
Give you temporary
custody of your children and order the abuser to pay
you temporary child support .
Order the police to come
to your home while the abuser picks up personal
belongings.
Give you possession of
the car, furniture and other belongings.
Order the abuser to go
to a batterers intervention program.
Order the abuser not to
call you at work.
Order the abuser to give
guns to the police.
If you are worried
about any of the following, make sure you:
Show the judge any
pictures of your injuries.
Tell the judge that you
do not feel safe if the abuser comes to your home to
pick up the children to visit with them.
Ask the judge to order
the abuser to pick up and return the children at the
police station or some other safe place.
Ask that any visits the
abuser is permitted are at very specific times so
the police will know by reading the court order if
the abuser is there at the wrong time.
Tell the judge if the
abuser has harmed or threatened the children, ask
that visits be supervised, think about who
could do that for you.
It
is against the law in every state in the United States to
physically hurt another person, no matter how the two are
related. Every victim of domestic abuse has a right to be
protected under the law. There are two kinds of courts
that handle domestic violence, civil court and criminal court.
The
