No one should have to live in fear of other people. However, for many people, they?re stuck in a situation where they can?t get out.
These victims can include everyone from spouses, to children, people with stalkers, and even elders. Fortunately for all of these people, there are legal paths to take to remove themselves from these dangers.
The most commonly used are restraining orders which can be specified for a multitude of situations. For example, elder abuse restraining orders are issued to protect abused or threatened people over the age of 65. Spousal restraining orders are typically drafter with a family law attorney to remove one of the spouses from the living situation.
You may be asking yourself, what is a restraining order? These are legal documents that are drafted by an attorney at law and approved by court that put a legal restriction on how close an offender can come to the person who filed the restraining order.
Typically, these will require distance of anywhere from 50 yards, to a few hundred yards of distant that must be kept between the two parties. If these limits are broke, the offender can face serious legal action.
If they don?t go to jail, most will at least be put onto probation. Just in 2012, there were an estimated 4.1 million adults who were moved onto or off probation. Many of these could be people who violated a restraining order.
However, if an offender is put on probation or sent to jail, it doesn?t mean that a restraining order is just not important anymore. About 68% of probationers completed their term of supervision or were otherwise discharged early in 2012 as well. That is up from 66% in 2011.
So what is a restraining order good for after the offender has been incarcerated? If they are ever released for any reason, you don?t want to be vulnerable.
Therefore, if you feel threatened by someone, stop asking yourself what is a restraining order, and find a criminal defense lawyer or other attorney to draft one for you.
