Overlawyered » domestic violence http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:22:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 New Massachusetts restraining-order law http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/new-massachusetts-restraining-order-law/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/new-massachusetts-restraining-order-law/#comments Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:01:35 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22497 A new Massachusetts law that went into effect last year allows neighbors and other unrelated complainants to seek restraining orders against each other, a legal remedy formerly confined mostly to use between family members. But there’s been a surge of filings seeking the new “harassment prevention orders,” and according to the clerk of the Boston municipal court, the law has wound up empowering “every kook in the world” to “file a harassment order against their neighbor or landlord or someone who just annoys them.” Among cases: “One man took his neighbor to Malden District Court for allegedly blowing leaves on his property, and a woman in Boston Municipal Court insisted that actor Chuck Norris used high frequency radio transmissions to harass her at home.” [Boston Globe]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/new-massachusetts-restraining-order-law/feed/ 2 February 7 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-7-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-7-roundup/#comments Mon, 07 Feb 2011 05:13:26 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21338
  • Paper by Lester Brickman previews his much-anticipated new book Lawyer Barons [Mass Tort Lit, SSRN] More: Sheila Scheuerman, TortsProf.
  • “A Players’ Class Action Against the NFL for Concussions?” [Russell Jackson]
  • C’mon, DoJ, stop spreading domestic violence myths [Christina Hoff Sommers, USA Today]
  • “Historians as Experts: A Plea for Help” [Bill Childs, TortsProf; related, Nathan Schachtman]
  • Might not really work, though: “A call for aviation liability reform in South Dakota” [PoL]
  • “Chevron Turns Tables on Ecuador Plaintiffs; Sues Them” [WSJ Law Blog, ShopFloor, more, yet more, NYLJ]
  • Hedge funder plays race card against NYC’s famed Dakota co-op. How plausibly? [Business Insider]
  • N.C. official: citizen who challenged road plans might be practicing engineering without a license [N&O]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-7-roundup/feed/ 7     Fateful friending http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/fateful-friending/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/fateful-friending/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:20:21 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18950 A Florida man was arrested for violating a protective order prohibiting contact with his estranged spouse after he attempted to “friend” her on Facebook [Slatest via Josh Blackman]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/08/fateful-friending/feed/ 4     France makes “psychological violence” a crime http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/france-makes-psychological-violence-a-crime-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/france-makes-psychological-violence-a-crime-2/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:36:44 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=18059 Ken at Popehat laments, “My Entire Existence Is Now Against The Law In France.” [New York Times]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/07/france-makes-psychological-violence-a-crime-2/feed/ 3     “Lawsuit accuses GPS firm of aiding domestic abuse” http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/lawsuit-accuses-gps-firm-of-aiding-domestic-abuse/ http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/lawsuit-accuses-gps-firm-of-aiding-domestic-abuse/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 11:24:10 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=17217 “Jane Doe” has sued a Missouri company, Foxtrax Vehicle Tracking Inc., in a Wisconsin court, saying it aided and abetted her domestic partner in tracking her whereabouts, thus enabling him to commit assault and battery on her. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via Masnick/TechDirt and Siouxsie Law]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2010/05/lawsuit-accuses-gps-firm-of-aiding-domestic-abuse/feed/ 2     Tiger Woods and domestic violence law http://overlawyered.com/2009/12/tiger-woods-and-domestic-violence-law/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/12/tiger-woods-and-domestic-violence-law/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:34:35 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=15007 Everyone else in the country has been talking about it, we may as well too. [Hanna Rosin, Slate via WSJ Law Blog] Another view: Cathy Young, Real Clear Politics.

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/12/tiger-woods-and-domestic-violence-law/feed/ 5     Persons accused of domestic violence have right to hearing http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/persons-accused-of-domestic-violence-have-a-right-to-hearing/ http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/persons-accused-of-domestic-violence-have-a-right-to-hearing/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:34:21 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=14681 That’s a more controversial proposition than you might think; the Connecticut Supreme Court was split 5-2 in agreeing that a hearing was necessary to confirm the validity of a protective order against a defendant who has been accused but not convicted. The case pitted the state ACLU against the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence. [Connecticut Law Tribune via Amy Alkon]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2009/11/persons-accused-of-domestic-violence-have-a-right-to-hearing/feed/ 12     United Airlines liquor service caused husband to beat wife http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/united-airlines-liquor-service-caused-husband-to-beat-wife/ http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/united-airlines-liquor-service-caused-husband-to-beat-wife/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:43:19 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=8020 Such is the contention of Yoichi and Ayisha Shimamoto, who are suing UAL “for ‘negligently’ overserving alcohol during a flight from Osaka, Japan, to San Francisco, saying the carrier’s drinks fueled the domestic violence involving the two shortly after their plane landed.” (Julie Johnsson, “Couple accuse United Airlines of overserving husband, causing him to beat wife”, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 17).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/united-airlines-liquor-service-caused-husband-to-beat-wife/feed/ 5     Judge locks up 46 people over ringing cellphone http://overlawyered.com/2007/11/judge-locks-up-46-people-over-ringing-cellphone/ http://overlawyered.com/2007/11/judge-locks-up-46-people-over-ringing-cellphone/#comments Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:08:05 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=5593 Jurists behaving badly dept.:
    According to the commission report, [Niagara Falls, N.Y. city court judge Robert] Restaino was presiding over a domestic-violence case when a ringing mobile phone interrupted proceedings. When no one took responsibility for the ringing phone, Restaino ordered that court security officers search for the device.

    About 70 defendants were in the courtroom that day to take part in a monitoring program for domestic violence offenders. … After all the defendants denied having the phone or knowing who it belonged to, Restaino sent 46 people to jail. Fourteen who were unable to make bail were handcuffed and jailed for several hours.

    The New York state Commission on Judicial Conduct removed Restaino from office Tuesday, calling his action “a gross deviation from the proper role of a judge.” (Janine Brady, “Panel gives judge a ringing rebuke”, CNN, Nov. 28; Elefant, Nov. 28).

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2007/11/judge-locks-up-46-people-over-ringing-cellphone/feed/ 8     “Criminal law comes home” http://overlawyered.com/2006/12/criminal-law-comes-home/ http://overlawyered.com/2006/12/criminal-law-comes-home/#comments Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:13:28 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=4282 Something unusual in the Yale Law Journal: an article that takes a not entirely enthusiastic view of the continued spread of domestic restraining orders. Under such orders (some earlier posts) allegations of spousal abuse, whether or not eventually proven at trial and whether or not withdrawn by the accuser, can trigger highly burdensome sanctions against the accused spouse, including a prohibition on entering his or her own home. Harvard Law assistant professor Jeannie Suk says the process can amount to “de facto state-imposed divorce” and greatly increases the power of the state to reach into and reorder family life, sometimes against the will of both parties. (”Criminal Law Comes Home”, Oct., abstract leads to PDF of full version)(via Pattis). In response, a second law professor argues that current legal trends appropriately treat alleged domestic violence as a crime against the state and not just against the nominal victim, and that it is wrong to place too much emphasis on accusers’ supposed right to forgive abusive conduct (Cheryl Hanna, “Because Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, The Pocket Part, Oct. 12)(& welcome Ron Coleman/Dean Esmay readers).

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