Delays in scheduling interpreters may result in lack of legal protection
A woman came to Silver Spring District Court last week for the final hearing on her protective order. When she got to the courtroom the judge told her there was no Farsi interpreter available. He suggested she wait until the afternoon so they could try to find someone, but they were unsuccessful. This survivor confided to […]
Memorial service for domestic violence homicide victims in Maryland
Between July 2013 and June 2014, 54 Marylanders lost their lives to domestic violence. 70% of the fatalities were due to guns. Last night a large crowd gathered in Annapolis to remember victims. Domestic violence homicides are preventable. New bills in the Maryland legislature would add protections for victims of violence in dating relationships and […]
Circuit Court Protective Order Practices in Domestic Violence Cases: In the Best Interests of the Child?
This report focuses on the well-being of children living with domestic violence and how it is impacted by
decisions judges make in final protective orders and conclude that Maryland’s Best interests of the Child
standard is not being met consistently in protective orders issued by Montgomery County’s Circuit
Court. Our findings indicate judges rarely order remedies available to protect children such as
Emergency Family maintenance; nor do judges often take advantage of services available in the County
that can provide long term benefit to families touched by domestic violence, such as ordering abusers to
offender counseling and ordering children to Safe Start Child counseling. More important, judges are
often forced to fashion visitation arrangements that risk further traumatizing children, impacting both
their safety and that of the custodial parent, either ordering ex-partners to exchange children in unsafe
environments or ordering family members or friends of the parties to act as visitation supervisors,
though they may lack guidelines for how to handle this fraught situation as well as a full awareness of
the children’s best interests. We urge County leaders to consider better alternatives to these
arrangements: 1) affordable child transfer services and monitored supervised visitation services where
children’s interactions with the abusive divorced/separated parent can be safely supervised by a trained
individual.
New report out today on Circuit Court’s practices in domestic violence cases (Nov. 2013)
Protection for victims of domestic violence in Montgomery County’s Circuit Court – Deaths from domestic violence are a continuing and preventable tragedy in Maryland. In each of the last three fiscal years, the number of domestic violence victims killed in Maryland has increased. From July 2011 through June 2012, 49 Maryland residents died as a result of domestic violence. […]
Court Watch Montgomery issued it’s first major report (Oct. 2011)
Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence in Montgomery County: Challenges and Opportunities with Protective and Peace Orders Court Watch Montgomery has released our first report analyzing data collected by volunteers in domestic violence protective order dockets to identify needed court reforms. We estimate that over 7,000 residents are victims of domestic violence in Montgomery County each […]
Bilingual audio at court & other encouraging changes
Montgomery County district courts have evaluated our findings and recommendations (Download Report) and have made some significant changes, including the addition of a bilingual audio at court. Clerks at each courthouse now play an audio recording in English and Spanish before the judge takes the bench for the domestic violence protective order docket. The audio explains […]