Why Haven't Restraining Orders Been Challenged?

[John_Wick]

Ok I'll play
How many of these PFAs are brought forward because of LEGITIMATE concerns of spousal or domestic abuse? I would venture a guess that OVERWHELMINGLY these are legitimate cases requiring these people to be separated from the people filing the PFA against them.

Having worked as a law clerk for 4 years, including a brief stint in a county prosecutor's office, my personal experience is that the vast majority of PFAs are likely illegitimate. They were oft used to simply get the other person out of the residence and/or as a tool for leverage in civil proceedings. Of course my personal experiences and your personal experiences are just that and don't really hold any value outside of casual conversation. Let's look at the statistics instead, as reported by victim advocacy organizations. According to Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), approximately 70% of restraining orders that are requested are based on "trivial or false claims." This is coming from a group that was formed to protect the victims and even they acknowledge most claims are "trivial or false." Nationwide, over 90% of those are nonetheless approved (which is to be expected given the virtually nonexistent burden of proof). Approximately 85% of those are filed by women, who account for 62% of false cases (domesticviolence.org). In my view, that constitutes a system that is doing a lot more harm than good. Considering that virtually everyone has a video/audio recorder on them 24/7/365, it's not unreasonable to raise the threshold of proof for PFAs, especially when approval of said PFA carries criminal penalties.

If the requirement for Proof of abuse is added, How do you quantify mental abuse? I have seen this first hand, Not a finger was laid on the person, but they would sit in the basement and cycle the action on a shot gun under the bedroom where the person was trying to sleep ...for hours. Would you consider this a legitimate threat to any sane person? And yet you believe this individuals right to keep his guns should be sacrosanct despite these actions?

PFAs in PA don't explicitly provide any protection from psychological abuse. A husband that calls his wife fat every day is a d*ck, but it doesn't rise to the level of being sufficient grounds for a PFA. Additionally, in the example you provide it would have been very easy for the victim to record the event since it went on "for hours," which would then have afforded her the opportunity to pursue criminal charges. And no, I don't believe such an individual should be permitted to keep his guns provided the accusation can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

[bluedog46]

ON this subject i know a woman who has a pfa on her in Delaware she has a ccdw in DE and it does not get pulled for these. Now she renewed her PA non res like last month but the pfa was from march. I thougth you sould not get a license to carry wtih one against you and i think she might have lied on the app to get it and be in big trouble. I tried to tel her. Seemst they would see she has one when she applied.

ANyone know the answer on renewels?