In my field of practice there are certain types of cases that I take very seriously, they are protective orders. Now this is not to say that I do not take a divorce, or child custody case seriously, but when a protective order is filed someone’s life may be at stake. This week I
The federal 5th Circuit court of appeals released a rare opinion that bears on Texas family law cases. Usually family law cases are only a matter of state court decisions (and the super-rare US Supreme Court opinion); the federal courts rarely have an occasion to weigh in on our state’s domestic relations.
Along comes the
This post continues the discussion of the unconstitutionality of protective orders under the Texas Family Code and picks up from Part I previously published.
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution holds:
No person shall be held to
Protective orders under the Texas Family Code are intended to protect a person from family violence, but this protection cannot be obtained by violating the constitutions of both the United States and Texas. Texas Family Code chapter 83 addresses temporary ex parte protective orders. Texas Family Code chapter 85 addresses final protective orders. It
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 1 in 4 women and nearly 1 in 10 men have experienced a form of family violence by an intimate partner during their lifetime. See generally Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Intimate Partner Violence (Feb. 26, 2019), https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/fastfact.html.
In Texas, victims of family violence
Interesting article in the Dallas Morning News today about efforts to prevent folks convicted of domestic violence or abuse from gun ownership. Under federal law, anyone found to have committed family violence (aka domestic abuse), whether in a criminal proceeding or by way of a civil protective order, is prohibited from purchasing a gun. The
Effective September 1, 2015, the law pertaining to the definition of family violence has been expanded by the Texas Legislature. Now, the code prohibits family violence, including a person who applied for a protective order. The prior version of the law prohibited violence against the victim, but left a loophole for violence against a person
