Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Supreme Court on "private criminal contempt" proceedings

Victims of domestic violence advocates are sounding the warning about a little-noticed U.S. Supreme Court case they say could make it much harder for battered women and men to enforce restraining orders against their abusers, a Law.com article yesterday reported.

"The case Robertson v. U.S. ex rel. Watson, argued this morning, challenges the way restraining orders are enforced in the District of Columbia," the article says. “D.C. law allows victims themselves to bring criminal contempt charges when abusers infringe on a court order, and at least 14 states have similar setups, according to an amicus brief filed by George Washington University Law School's Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project.”

ScotusBlog has more here.


Petition for certiorari
Brief in opposition

George Washington University’s amicus brief

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