Restraining orders have an extremely low threshold now. After towns have been successfully sued by the family of women later killed by people they tried to get restraining orders against and were deigned, most judges will issue a 72 hour temporary restraining order to anyone willing to fill out a police report. After the 72 hours, the person requesting the order can appear in court and petition the court for a longer one. During that hearing, the person requesting one needs only present "probable cause" that the person might do something. The subject of the restraining order doesn't even need to be that to offer their side of the story.
Yes, they can easily be used maliciously. The "legal" system errs on the side of caution - considering the accused guilty without trial or evidence beyond the petitioners statement.
So I had a BS temporary Restraining order put on me several years ago. There was a large disagreement over a family members estate. A bitter (and f'ing crazy) relative assaulted me, I mildly defended myself and restrained her from hitting me. Then walked away while she came at me again but was stopped by family. Anyway, she was bitter and f'ing crazy and nuts about the money she got "screwed out of" even though she got the same amount as others. So I was working on the house the next night and a cop pulls up and says sorry but he had to give me a temporary RO.
The bar for a TRO is EXTREMELY LOW. Basically the person who wants one goes to a court during the day and fills out a short form and describes why they feel unsafe, etc. The judge looks at it and says ok and bam you get served a TRO. I'd love to se the numbers but I bet they are approved 99.4% of the time. It's just their word and that's it. You never even know about it until you are served. If it is a weekend or weekday night when the courts are closed, there is at least one judge on call at all times. They will do the thing over the phone and bam you get served a TRO probably within hours.
But this is where it gets really good. So I got served on a Sunday. I went to the court 7:30 monday morning to get the thing removed. I fill out the paper for the hearing and they call her. But they call and call and call and she never answered. There is a date for the TRO hearing (on the form) to extend it when you are served. But I wanted it gone now. She didn't answer the phone. So I asked, well can you force her to come in for the hearing or do you lift it if you can get her? Nope, she doesn't have to come in. There is nothing they can do to force her in until the date on the TRO you were served with. But that date could be a few weeks and in the mean time, you have no guns, you are in danger of violating the TRO if you go near her, etc.
If you are in a restaurant eating and she walks in, you must leave right away. And if she is f'ing crazy and vengeful she could make stuff up. She could say you drove by her house and threatened her, followed her, etc. and if you are not with someone at all times to attest that you did not violate the TRO, you are screwed!!!!! You'll be arrest and get to talk to the judge the next day after spending the night in jail. People with half a brain, enough anger and the determination, they can really really screw you up big time. They can use the system against you and really put you through the ringer.
In my town one of the nicer cops is a 42 yr old or so woman. Very nice and does her job well in my experiences with her and what I've heard. The person who put the TRO on me drove by a house I was at and flipped me off. She knew I'd be there and obviously was not "in fear of her life" or other BS. I was nervous because I was within x feet of her while she flipped me off so I called 911 right away and explained things and wanted cops to come out and take my statement as well as my witnesses. The female cop knew the relative who put the TRO on me and knew she was f'ing nuts. She knew the TRO was obviously BS since she had not problem going to where I was. The female Sargent quote to me was "90% of the TRO's we serve are complete BS and a waste of our time". The other cops I've talked to say the same thing. They know it's all BS and people are using the system to attack others to get back at them. But once the judge issues it, the cops are just serving the paper. They are pawns and they know it and do not like it.
In my case, I don't know what would have happened at the TRO hearing if the moron didn't drive by and flip me off. That actually happened the day before the hearing. When the judge heard that, she was not amused and it was quickly dismissed after a short hearing. But if not for that, who knows what would have happened.
My family has been friendly with the town police chief for decades. He's a nice guy but as he said, they are just following orders. He gave me a bunch of advise on what to do, etc. He said over and over "you need to get rid of that TRO ASAP" It is something that can really get you in a jam and you want to get it lifted as fast as possible. If you are going through a bitter divorce or something for instance. Say your wife knows your email password. She can go into your email, send a nasty threatening email to her account as if it came from you, then bring it to the police and you are going to jail. By the time you get search warrants to prove it came from a certain IP address from her work or whatever, you'd be in jail for some time.
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