“The consequences that arise once a protective order is entered against a person (the respondent) are substantial. Though technically considered civil proceedings, protective orders have a close relationship to criminal law. The consequences of having a protective order entered often include restrictions on constitutional rights in addition to financial obligations. Violations of protective orders bring about serious criminal charges.”
“I have been fighting for 10 years to clear my son’s name from a false restraining order that [was] dismissed and vacated by the court. But to clear themselves, [officers of] the judicial system turn their heads to the wrongdoing and cause this young man to be [defamed], not able to continue his education, etc. His [access to] life has, it seems like, forever been barred.”
The remark above by a criminal lawyer on the “consequences of protective orders” echoes those of many other attorneys (which may observe that restraining order records limit job opportunities and can interfere with the lease of a home, getting government housing, or obtaining credit). I could find you a quotation along the same lines from a law firm in any state of the Union. The woman whose remark follows the lawyer’s, Lena Bennett, identifies herself as a “concerned mother who needs to be heard,” and this post is dedicated to her and her son.
A former trial attorney, Larry Smith, who knows the law in this arena better than he wishes he did, responded to Lena: “I doubt that you can get an expired order expunged in most states because the restraining order, although it has may components of the criminal law, is said to be civil.”
As usual, Larry gets right to the heart of the matter. The fact is there are laws on the books that allow a person who’s been convicted in a criminal court of, say, harassment, stalking, terroristic threats, or assault to later have the charges expunged.
But if a person is baselessly accused of any or all of these acts on a civil restraining order, there’s no legislation in place (except in Tennessee) to enable him or her to have the accusations removed from his or her public record even if a judge determined them to be baseless and dismissed the order.
Note: People who have actually committed crimes can relieve themselves of the onus of a court record (that may hobble their employment opportunities), while people who’ve merely been accused on an ex parte order of the court (30 minutes in and out) are incriminated for life without ever having been tried for a crime, and that, again, is even if a judge formally decreed them innocent and tossed the accusations.
The paper trail, which may include multiple false reports to police officers and registration in police and publicly accessible state databases, is indefinitely preserved.
(Let’s say you’re an employer screening a male job applicant, and you see a restraining order record on which a woman has indicated that he stalked or sexually assaulted her. Let’s even say the court dismissed the case as lacking any foundation. Will you or won’t you be influenced by that record?)
Excuses for preserving restraining order records, which emerge from anti-domestic-violence dogmatists, are anachronistic. Typical of the law, statutes are about 20 years behind social trends.
Consider:
The bill whose defeat is reported in the headline above would have allowed citizens of Maryland who had been accused of domestic violence on a dismissed restraining order petition to have the allegations completely expunged (erased). It was shot down.
Supporters of the measure argued that abuse accusations carry such a stigma that allowing records to remain public in cases that have been deemed unfounded unfairly hurts innocent people as they seek employment or housing.
Opponents contended that requests for protective orders are often dismissed because battered victims, usually women, are too scared or intimidated to pursue the matter. They said records are not expunged in other kinds of civil cases, even when allegations are unproved.
Never mind that these opponents are well aware that restraining order cases are not like “other kinds of civil cases.” Their implications are plainly criminal and highly prejudicial. They’re recorded in police databases.
A year later, another bill is proposed to the same legislature. This one wouldn’t expunge anything, but it would “hide” restraining order records from public view.
“Shielding” is possible in Maryland today and only requires a clerk to sign off on it. It removes the record of a dismissed order from Maryland’s Judiciary Case Search. The record still exists, however, and can be easily accessed by anyone who swings by the courthouse.
In the whole of the nation, as revealed by a Google search performed yesterday, these are the only states in which there are reportedly means to have a restraining order expunged:
Of these, only Tennessee has an actual statute (law) enabling a person who’s been accused on a restraining order petition that was later dismissed to move the court to expunge the record.
And in only a handful of states (again, according to a casual Google search) has legislation been proposed that would offer the same opportunity to their citizens:
That’s it.
Copyright © 2016 RestrainingOrderAbuse.com
TALKING BACK to restraining orders 
Alabama Federal Judge Mark Fuller was charged with beating his wife, pled guilty and his arrest record will be expunged if he completes a counseling program.
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What strikes me is that what you report is public knowledge. The “expungement” won’t conceal the act, so why should the judge care? Unless it’s because he’s such a sensitive and fragile flower that he doesn’t like a notation on his record that says he beats his wife.
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The radfem movement, often called third-wave feminism, which spawned The Violence Against Women Act, is largely responsible for the restraining order epidemic. Due process, notice, opportunity to be heard, burden of proof, presumption of innocence, separation of powers, checks and balances, freedom of speech, equal protections of the law, right to trial by jury, guarantee against bills of attainder, right to be let alone — all these Constitutional protections of citizens have been turned upside down. Even innocent women have been victimized by this mass lunacy, as we see here on these pages.
A few brave judges have protested, and certainly great law professors like Aaron Caplan and Eugene Volokh have eloquently criticized the Constitution-battering legislation and the life-changing prosecutions of the innocent which followed the VAWA.
I have two expired restraining orders suborned by perjury, the second one obtained by extrinsic judicial fraud. I am 71 and both of these malicious slanders, these filthy lies, will probably follow me to my grave. But also following me to my grave will be my conclusion that I was born and raised and lived most of my life in the banana republic of North Carolina.
Both of the cyberstalking arrests ended in permanent dismissals, but when I was arrested, slammed around, mugged*, and booked for writing opinion to the whole world on the internet, I was forced to give samples of my DNA. I had nothing lurking in my past life to fear and I didn’t much care about goons gawking at my double helix except that giving up DNA suggests a despicable, violent crime. Yet I still have no criminal convictions hanging over me (because I do not commit crimes), and certainly nothing in my past from which recombinant DNA could serve to incriminate me. It’s just the idea of it which burns. I keep plodding on.
There are detestable people, subhumans, who infest our government, both federal and local, who would like to paint their critics as immoral misdemeanants or convicted felons. They’ll play hell ever doing that to me; and if I can use my knowledge and experience in law to help others like Todd Greene, Bruce Aristeo, and so many others to dodge the bullets of this insanity, I damn sure will.
*My mugshot from the last of the cyberstalking charges still lingers on the internet. The sleazebags who published it wanted (the last time I looked) $200 to remove it. It was also published in little tabloid newspapers sold in handy marts all over the South. If you don’t believe me just google “James Lawrence Smith” cyberstalking. Here, I’ll show it to you, my badge of courage.
http://arrest-mugshot-search.com/mugshot/NC/Bumcombe-County/2014-May-23/6617837/James-Smith
And if you keep looking you’ll see where I have been stalked by scum of the earth, who have called me a disbarred lawyer and other despicable libels. I used to try and shoot these defamatory claims down but finally gave up. Even the scoundrels of the North Carolina State Bar have defamed me. And I see that the ravenous wolves in the mugshot business have reduced their charge to remove my mugshot to $149.95. What a bargain!
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It’s a good picture. You should charge them.
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IN TEXAS
Which criminal records can be expunged or sealed? Certain types of criminal offenses may never be sealed or expunged under Texas law. These include the following crimes: Murder Child abuse Domestic violence Sex offenses Stalking Violating a protective order Abuse of the elderly or disabled Abandoning or endangering a child – See more at: http://appeltlaw.com/?page_id=583
Surely anyone reading this list can imagine the consequences on career, social life and mental and physical well being of an individual having been included in this elite group of murderers, sexual deviants and child abusers. Am I wrong?
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http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/local/many-abuse-victims-request-protection-orders-then-have-them-dismissed/article_d269ce18-d409-11e4-8694-f3fabc1b2d61.html
https://restrainingorderabuse.com/2015/03/27/stinky-most-restraining-order-petitions-are-rejected-by-the-courts/
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Reblogged this on Falsely Accused.
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