False charges of abuse rare
It was with some surprise that I read The Baltimore Sun's account of the hearing on expunging records of domestic violence orders before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on March 12 ("Under a cloud," March 13). The emphasis on false charges in its initial paragraphs was particularly misleading.
In the vast majority of protective order petitions, victims are not found to have made false allegations. In fact, it is more common for victims to be unfairly accused as part of the power and control dynamic exercised by abusers.
A small number of people may make false accusations to obtain a desired legal outcome. But that is not specific to domestic violence cases. People can make false statements in any civil or criminal action, and the courts make a determination about the veracity of such statements.
Protective orders are dismissed or denied for a variety of reasons. Victims may be fearful or unable to attend the hearing, or the evidence may not meet the very high standard of clear and convincing needed for a final protective order. Such a dismissal does not mean that no abuse has occurred.
Expunging the court records could eliminate the documentation of a pattern of abuse and should only take place in limited circumstances.
It is also important to note that civil protective orders are issued to provide safety, not to determine criminal guilt or innocence.
That is a determination that can only be made in a criminal proceeding.
Michaele Cohen, Bowie
The writer is executive director of the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence.
City's cultural life seems in free-fall
While Baltimore sports enthusiasts are all aflutter about the collapse of the company that owns Pimlico Race Course and worried about whether the Orioles will be in the hunt this season, the city's cultural life is in free-fall with hardly a whimper.
After almost half a century of glory, the Baltimore Opera Company is being liquidated ("City opera to shut down," March 13) and the Senator Theatre faces foreclosure ("Is this curtains for the Senator?" March 17).
The aspirations of those of us who care about how our city is perceived, not only by those in this area but by others, are being dashed before our eyes, and the return Baltimore's reputation as the cultural and intellectual "Outback of the East" is virtually assured.
What is most horrifying is that so few of us seem to care.
