Restraining Order Reform in MA

	posted by Scott on Thursday May 24, @08:20AM from the domestic-violence dept.
	This article from the Boston Globe (by Cathy Young) outlines a Judiciary hearing in which argument were heard to reform the Abuse Prevention Law, which covers domestic violence restraining orders. "While many see the well-intentioned law as a necessary shield for abused women, there is mounting evidence that it is often used as a sword in messy domestic disputes." Young cites several examples of non-violent men who were thrown in jail for making a phone call to their child on the wrong day of the week, and similar situations. Some were even pushed to suicide after being alienated and mistreated for so long. How can this happen? Young writes, "Blame the mentality that it's best to err on the side of safety for women, even if it means trampling on the rights of some innocent men." No kidding.

	Source: The Boston Globe [newspaper] Title: When the law is one-sided in domestic disputes Author: Cathy Young Date: May 23, 2001

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Harsh reality of MA 209A (Score:1) by cheddah on Thursday May 24, @12:43PM EST (#1) (User #190 Info) (I have posted this once before...) An ex-girlfriend of mine owes me many thousands dollars. We broke up, and naturally I wanted to be at least partially reimbursed. She is not poor, she just manages her money poorly, so I used to call her weekly to remind her to plan and repay me. I did not want to file a claim against her, as I did not want to inconvenience our lives this way, and by all accounts, she was interested in repaying me. Big mistake....! She called her town police and filed a restraining order against me to prevent me from calling her. When she went to the police station to fill out the forms the female police chief asked her to describe our relationship. As it turns out, my ex claimed that a year earlier I may have "shoved" her in an argument(translation: put a hand on her shoulder). Without my ex knowing about it, a police officer was sent to my house to serve me a summons for MA 209A - which is domestic assault and battery in my state. My ex-girlfriend did not know this was going to happen. When she got her letter to appear in court, she called me (in violation of the order) and told me that she never intended this to be the outcome of the restraining order and apologized. She did not even know that what the police chief asked her for was relevant to the restraining order at all. By MA state definition, if a single finger touches your partner during what could be considered a dispute, even if no intentional contact was made or harm intended, it is Assault and Battery. To make a long story short. It turns out the upscale town that she lives in was under pressure to actively pursue domestic issues. So we both went to court, and she had her lawyer drop the charges. But the magistrate told me that I was "lucky that my ex was being truthful!!!!" I'm convinced that there is a feminist agenda that is aimed at increasing the statistics of domestic violence against women. I feel that I was a victim of this agenda. I never hurt her, she agreed that I never hurt her, yet the state did everything to turn our situation into an issue of assault and battery. I feel sorry for a father that is slapped with this type of situation, laws in Ma are set up to use as swords against men ...not as shields to protect women. With the current broad definition of "assault and battery" - everyone is at risk of losing their liberty, especially if happen to be a man... P.S. I never did collect any of my money back.

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