Referred to: The Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee (Chairman Briggs

and Legislators Fabiano, Provenzano, Ronk and Wishnick)

Legislator Dean Fabiano offers the following:

WHEREAS, an order of protection serves as a necessary and important tool to

protect victims of domestic violence through the provision of emergency relief in the

event of imminent or actual serious physical harm; and

WHEREAS, in 2006, there were an estimated 2 to 3 million temporary

restraining orders issued in the United States; and

WHEREAS, these legal documents have been increasingly misused as tools to

gain leverage in custody matters; and

WHEREAS, an individual identified in an order of protection can be required

to immediately vacate the house, prohibited from communicating with their children

– including phone calls or email, barred from carrying a weapon which may result in

a loss of a security clearance if working in the military or law enforcement, thus

harming the person’s career opportunities, and imposed with substantial legal defense

costs by forcing all communication be conducted through legal counsel – all without

the opportunity to refute the allegation and without documented evidence of the

alleged abuse; and

WHERAS, the burden of proof for the judge is a preponderance of the

evidence or a belief that there is a 51% chance that the allegations are true; and

WHEREAS, false petitions clog an already overwhelmed judicial system and

cause delays in the examination of cases involving true victims and depletes crimevictim assistance resources; and

WHEREAS, in a 2006 study of emergency protective-order petitions in West

Virginia, an estimated 80.6% were determined to be “false or unnecessary”; and

WHEREAS, this study further found the costs to the State for the false reports

was in excess of $18.2 million; and

WHEREAS, in some situations, the petitioner will appear to violate the order

of protection themselves by contacting the subject of the order; but as the order

specifies limitations on the subject of the order and not the petitioner, it is the

respondent that is subject to civil or criminal contempt for simply responding to the

petitioner’s communication; and

WHEREAS, the only resolve for Order of Protection Abuse is additional legal

time and costs associated with a civil suit for malicious abuse of the legal system

process, defamation of character and/or the intentional infliction of emotional

distress; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature urges the New York State

Governor and Legislature to authorize a comprehensive review of Order of

Protection Abuse and enact policies and procedures to stop the abuse and misuse of

the legal system; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall forward copies

of this resolution to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Assembly and Senate Majority and

Minority Leaders, Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairmen, Assembly

Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Senate Finance Committee Chairman, all

Ulster County elected Assemblymen and Senators and Ulster County Judges,

and moves its adoption.

 ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

 AYES: NOES:

Passed Committee: Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee on October 5,

2015

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE