Ordering respondents to surrender firearms is not always easy for courts—it can mean more work for staff, extra hearings to ensure compliance, and negotiations with local law enforcement about storing the weapons and ammunition. But the power to order surrender of firearms as part of issuing a protection order is a vital means of reducing lethality in family violence cases. Consider this: protection order laws are p … [Read more...] about Firearms & Protection Orders: Considering Surrender
Protection Orders
Judicial Oversight in Domestic Violence Cases
If you are a judicial officer reading this, chances are you’ve issued an order or two in your career. You did so with the belief that the parties involved would obey those court orders, right? One way to find out if someone is complying with an order is to wait for the filing of notices of violations, such as contempt proceedings or probation violations. And, if there are no filings, that means the party is complying … [Read more...] about Judicial Oversight in Domestic Violence Cases
Are Protection Orders Effective in Reducing Intimate Partner Violence?
Editor’s Note: We begin a new feature focusing on Family Violence articles that will be written by the Indiana Supreme Court Division of State Court Administration’s newest Family Law Staff Attorney, Ruth Reichard. Ruth has over twenty-seven years of combined litigation, judicial and teaching experience, as well as a passion for domestic violence issues. She served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Marion County, an … [Read more...] about Are Protection Orders Effective in Reducing Intimate Partner Violence?
One Less Obstacle for Abuse Victims Seeking Court Intervention
Victims of violence in Indiana can now file petitions seeking court protection orders electronically from the privacy and safety of a victim advocate’s office or a domestic violence shelter. Over 250 victim advocates in more than 79 counties have been given access and trained to use a new Advocate Access site for the statewide Protection Order Registry (POR). Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds through the Indiana Cr … [Read more...] about One Less Obstacle for Abuse Victims Seeking Court Intervention
From Necessary to Mandatory: Indiana's Electronic Protection Order Registry
Members of the Indiana justice community often express the logistical challenges they face in their daily work. Judges, law enforcement officers, and victim advocates over the years have shared their frustration with the paper-based system for processing protection orders—as well as the delays and sometimes, the danger, it caused. Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., asked how technology could help courts imp … [Read more...] about From Necessary to Mandatory: Indiana's Electronic Protection Order Registry