Victims of domestic violence could seek legal protection from their abusers at night and on weekends - not just during 9-to-5 weekday courtroom hours - under legislation that appears likely to win approval from the General Assembly.
"Domestic violence is not limited to business hours," said Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend during a hearing on the proposal yesterday. "We should be there for victims of domestic violence 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
The proposal being considered by lawmakers would expand the powers of District Court commissioners when courts aren't open, letting them issue interim orders forbidding those accused of abuse from contact with those seeking protection.
The orders would be reviewed by district or circuit judges within two days of the court being back in session.
"As a commissioner, it really hurts to send these people away when they are asking plainly for some level of protection we can't provide," said Michael Elmore, a court commissioner in Charles County who oversees Southern Maryland commissioners.
If approved by the Assembly, the proposal would need approval by voters this fall because it would amend the state constitution.
Similar legislation failed in the House Judiciary Committee last year. This year, the proposal is sponsored by the House of Delegates leadership - including the chairman of that committee.
The proposal also is backed by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, the state attorney general, state and local police agencies, the judiciary and domestic violence activists. Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of the Maryland Court of Appeals highlighted the issue during his annual State of the Judiciary speech last month.
In hearings before Senate and House committees yesterday, lawmakers were urged to give domestic violence victims the opportunity to obtain protection at all times. "It closes the loophole in making sure that we all have continuous access to the judicial process when we need it," said House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr., an Allegany County Democrat.
Under current law, victims of domestic violence can obtain civil protection orders from judges only during weekday business hours.
But about 44 percent of domestic violence occurs between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m., and about a third occurs on weekends, according state crime statistics and to data from the House of Ruth, a Baltimore shelter for battered women .
