News
Court Watch volunteers win big!
Court Watch Montgomery’s 70 volunteers are the proud winners of the Montgomery Serves Community Service Award for 2017! The award honors some of the County’s most devoted and effective volunteers. Court Watch volunteers spent more than 8,000 hours reducing domestic violence by improving how courts handle domestic violence cases. Volunteers…
Court Watch volunteers discuss DV dockets with 5 District Court judges
This week 18 Court Watch volunteers spent over an hour discussing the protective order and domestic violence criminal dockets with District Court Administrative Judge Eugene Wolfe, and Judges Mitchell, Moffett, Williams and Sabett. It was a valuable opportunity to more fully understand the court’s approach to domestic violence cases and…
Judge goes the extra mile with victims dropping cases
When a victim files a petition many abusers feel they are losing control. The potential for danger rises dramatically. Some domestic violence victims who drop their protective order cases are doing so in reaction to extreme anger or threats by their abuser. Judge Zuberi Williams went out of his way…
Judge refuses protection to child at great risk
A District Court judge handling protective orders in November listened as a petitioner told her story. The petitioner described how her partner attacked and strangled her while she was holding their young child in her arms. He strangled her again on the bed, with the child lying right next to them. The respondent’s actions put the child in…
District Court bailiffs provide safe exits only 56% of the time
Staggering exits at the end of every domestic violence court hearing is a simple procedure. Bailiffs can keep victims safe by holding respondents for at least 10 minutes after the petitioner leaves the courtroom. When bailiffs don’t stagger exits, many survivors are harassed or assaulted by angry abusers on the way…
Judge holds a late defendant accountable
Monitors were surprised to see what played out in DV criminal court last week. A defendant, due at 8:30 am, arrived at court just before noon. The judge vigorously assessed the veracity of the defendant’s claim that he was late because his car had broken down. What the judge did…