Orders of Protection - Often Used and Too Often Abused

When the lawyers at Barbera & McElhone, P.C., started practicing in 1987, Orders of Protection were a remedy that was infrequently sought and even more infrequently granted. Domestic Violence, while certainly every bit the problem that it is today, was often swept under the rug or encouraged to be kept behind closed doors.

In the early 1990s, there were several Domestic Violence cases that came to both the Criminal and Family Courts in Suffolk County, where Orders of Protection were requested and violent spouses were made known to the Courts. Unfortunately, even after Court intervention, violence and even sometimes death occurred. This left our system with a huge black eye, and intense media scrutiny of the system, the district attorney, and the judges followed.

Now, requests for Orders of Protection are much more common and treated with a much larger concern and many more resources than ever. Courts issue Orders of Protection with greater frequency and police and deputy sheriffs enforce them strongly and to the letter. Suffolk has a "pro-arrest" policy on all domestic incidents, regardless of whether or not there is an Order of Protection. Nobody wants to read in the morning newspaper how a police officer reported to a domestic dispute, tried to calm the parties down, and left without an arrest, only to come back to a murder scene two hours later.

Unfortunately, parties in a matrimonial case quickly learn that if you get a "stay away" Order of Protection against your spouse, you get custody of your children and exclusive use of the marital home in the blink of an eye. Since "All's fair in love and war", parties can exagerate, or even lie about the alleged violence that led to their request for an Order of Protection.

While it doesn't take much imagination to imagine that a couple going through a divorce are fighting, arguing, and building up resentment towards each other, Orders of Protection were designed to protect abused spouses from violence. An Order of Protection was not intended to be used as a weapon to unilaterally remove the now unwanted spouse from the home just so that the beneficiary of the Order can live in peace.

Whether issued by the Criminal Court or the Family Court, the lawyers at Barbera & McElhone, P.C. can help you with any aspect of an Order of Protection case. Many times, the first appearance is the most important, so do not appear in Court unrepresented whether you are the person requesting the Order or the person who is the subject of the Order.