PART ONE Most Indiana judges know that our court system uses risk assessments to evaluate juvenile and adult offenders and to enable probation and pretrial release officers to recommend conditions of release. Judges might assume that a lethality assessment is just another term for a risk assessment. However, the two instruments differ, and they are both the subject of much discussion in the field of intimate partner … [Read more...] about Lethality Assessments: What are they? Do they work?
Family Violence
Are you asking the right questions? Intimate Partner Violence and Pet Abuse
In civil protection order cases or criminal family violence cases, judges and court staff naturally focus on determining appropriate remedies and consequences for the humans involved. They are always the named parties, victims, witnesses, or protected persons. However, it is likely that if the family home is violent, and if companion animals live in that home, the humans are not the only victims. Child abuse, elder … [Read more...] about Are you asking the right questions? Intimate Partner Violence and Pet Abuse
Are ACEs in your Courtroom?
Adults have one thing in common: we were once children. The quality of one’s childhood may have been tumultuous, nurturing, or a little of both. Certain events from childhood can stay with a person, sometimes long into adulthood. There is a scientifically documented relationship between events occurring in one’s childhood and an adult’s health and well-being. There was an intriguing study done in the 1990s called the … [Read more...] about Are ACEs in your Courtroom?
Trauma and the Courts – Being an Informed Court
The Issue Unless they are there for a wedding or an adoption, people rarely come to court for a happy, positive reason. Judges who handle criminal cases involving allegations of spousal or child abuse, sexual assault, or other violent crimes can count on seeing people who have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetimes. But what about judges in drug courts, veterans’ courts, problem-solving courts, o … [Read more...] about Trauma and the Courts – Being an Informed Court
National Domestic Violence Hotline
What is 20 years old, confidential, never stops working, and saves countless lives? The National Domestic Violence Hotline Established as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-322), the Hotline originated from the Violence Against Women Act, which authorized the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a grant to a private, nonprofit entity “to establish and operate a n … [Read more...] about National Domestic Violence Hotline