(Straw) Hats off to Tennessee, the One State in the Nation That Has a Provision for Expunging a Bogus Restraining Order

Moderator

“TCA 40-32-101(a)(5) All public records concerning an order of protection [ex-parte, exparte] authorized by title 36, chapter 3, part 6, which was successfully defended and denied by the court following a hearing conducted pursuant to § 36-3-605, shall, upon petition by that person to the court denying the order, be removed and destroyed without cost to the person.”

 —Wikpedia, “Expungement in the United States” (Tennessee)

A woman wrote this week desperate to learn how to seal or expunge the record of a temporary restraining order petitioned against her in California. The order was rejected by the judge, but she’s concerned about the potential ramifications of a lingering record to both her and her children.

Not unduly.

In trying to discover what recourse might be available to her to have the record zapped, I chanced upon the Tennessee statute highlighted in the epigraph. It appears to be the only one of its kind in the country.

Ironically, I’ve also been in correspondence with a gutsy Tennessee woman, Betty Krachey, who was issued a protection order by her boyfriend a few months ago that was dismissed by the court but whose reported fraudulence so outraged Betty that she’s been vigorously petitioning her state to “hold false accusers accountable.”

I wrote to Betty about the Tennessee provision for expunging the record yesterday. I told her I only hoped knowledge of it wouldn’t dull her fervor to inspire change. She says no way.

The order of protection that was served on me was dropped when we went to court. BUT I know a lot of people (all men but me) that this has happened to whose were not dropped and are still on their records. I want something done to my ex for filing this false report against me, and I want to get the law changed to hold anyone who does this accountable for trying to ruin someone’s life. (I know it’s mostly women who file these false reports!) A friend of mine’s ex-wife did this to him, and I remember when the police came to serve him (at my store, while he was having breakfast). He was telling everyone it wasn’t true and he never laid a hand on her.  No one believed him. I remember thinking he must have done something or the cops wouldn’t be serving him papers to leave his home. I know better now, and I know how people think of the ones this is done to.

For its being more legally evolved than the rest of the nation, hats off to Tennessee—and, as I quipped to Betty, I didn’t think people there even wore shoes.

Copyright © 2015 RestrainingOrderAbuse.com

*Betty quipped back, “And most of the people out here DON’T wear shoes…or teeth!!!!”

17 thoughts on “(Straw) Hats off to Tennessee, the One State in the Nation That Has a Provision for Expunging a Bogus Restraining Order”

  2. Pingback: Join Betty’s Battle to Baste Some Butts: Register Your Complaint of Procedural Abuse and Demand That False Accusers Be Held to Account | Falsely Accused

  3. I have court Wednesday June 1, 2016 where a family member with custody of my 6 year old daughter placed an OP for my daughter on me because the “psychopath family member” made the presumption the mother may show up and kidnap my daughter. I haven’t seen my baby girl in 4 weeks and I have court ordered unsupervised visitation every weekend and anytime she isn’t in school. I’m in Middle Tennessee, any recommendations for a father seeking full custody as the evidence to have this family member’s purchased parental rights terminated immediately grows immensely. This is pretty disturbing how someone can lie and keep your child from you, however, I am seeking approximately 100 counting of civil and criminal contempt currently, perhaps this will shed light on my situation and the judge will act swiftly to place this criminal and selfish family member behind bars where they belong. Please respond with any help or kind words of encouragement.

    Like

    Reply

  7. I absolutely understand the woman’s anger and desire for payback. The only thing I would caution is that there is the “Streisand Effect” phenomena whereby you actually draw more attention to it than if you had left it alone. However, sometimes the attention is a good thing if one is on a mission. Unfortunately, as most readers of ROA probably knows, the judicial system is highly unreliable and risky as a solution. In my view, it is a system of last resort. Certainly, Betty should fight back if she reasonably can but to not become too reliant on the outcome of from the judicial system that it will provide the resolution she seeks. The judicial system is an extremely flawed system full of flawed judges especially at the local level. I have certainly used the judicial when forced to but it is certainly a system I avoid.

    Having said all that, what I DO LIKE is that Change.org page. That is using a system of payback that goes outside the judicial system and well within her control. Whether she “wins” or not in court, If Betty continues to get her story out along those lines of Change.org and other online platforms, she is well on her way to “proving” in the court of public opinion that she was victimized.

    Good on Betty for being a spitfire on her situation.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Blessedly she’s cleared the high hurdle; the order petitioned against her was dismissed (which, absurdly, doesn’t mean the recorded allegations are gone). This TN statute lets people like Betty request that the court feed the record into the shredder.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I don’t monitor the ELI Forums every day. I check in periodically every few days. I now have volunteers who all pitch in to look in on my forums. It is largely self-policing. But I do get notifications of new posts.

        We will see if anyone wants ELI help. They may or may not be comfortable there. They should be because we have thousands of people posting anonymously about legal threats from stock photo agencies.

        But it is the only way attorney Oscar Michelen and I are willing to directly engage someone at this time on ROA issues as we manage our full-time businesses.

        Like

        Reply

Leave a reply to Matthew S. Chan Cancel reply