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The Massachusetts News is reporting that Judge Malcolm Jones, a retiring judge in Bristol County Probate Court, is openly claiming that restraining orders (or 209A's, as the are officially called), are routinely administered indiscriminately by judges. He was quoted as saying, "It's a necessary law, but it's an abused one. I've seen it used too many times as leverage in divorce cases, not for women in imminent fear of physical danger. One third of them are not legitimate, merely used as an "I'll fix you."" A lawyer was also quoted as saying, "they are issued like candy. It's a rare case that they won't be issued as long as somebody says the magic word, "I've been hit" or "I've been threatened." Unless that person has three heads or something really incredible like that, a District Court judge is going to issue them."
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