Protective Orders

A group of senators has added a twist to Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to take guns from the subjects of protective orders, voting to make it easier for domestic violence victims to get guns of their own. By a 6-5 decision, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee amended a bill last week that would require a judge to confiscate firearms when granting a final protective order. They changed the legislation to include a provision that the judge help speed a petitioner's application for a permit to carry a weapon.

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has directed a task force to give her a plan by the end of the month for a "seamless" statewide criminal justice information system to replace the patchwork system now in place.Townsend, who oversees anti-crime initiatives for Gov. Parris N. Glendening, said yesterday that if legislation is needed to create a centralized system, it could be introduced in the General Assembly session next year.The lieutenant governor's edict came in response to a recent report that 30 percent of the protective orders issued by Maryland judges are not entered into a statewide computer database used to prevent handgun sales to people who are accused of domestic abuse.

State police released audits yesterday showing that failures to properly log domestic restraining orders, to prevent accused abusers from buying guns, are more pervasive than officials previously acknowledged.All of the 21 jurisdictions audited by the state police frequently failed to correctly enter the protective orders, listing the wrong gender, name or race.The audits released yesterday were of mostly rural jurisdictions. The state police plan to begin auditing Baltimore City today."We are suffering from lack of staff, and I know people are tired of hearing that, but it is very much a reality," said George F. Johnson IV, president of the Maryland Sheriff's Association.

About 30 percent of protective orders issued by Maryland judges are not entered into a statewide computer database used to prevent people accused of domestic abuse from buying handguns, a sampling by federal prosecutors has found.The omissions could indicate a failure of what is meant to be an extensive system designed to protect victims of violence from angry spouses or loved ones.Problems were discovered by Lynne A. Battaglia, the U.S. attorney for Maryland, whose office studied a sampling of protective orders issued by judges in each of the state's jurisdictions from April through July.

Carroll County Sheriff John H. Brown has disbanded his agency's Drug Strike Force, citing a shortage of deputies to provide adequate security for the courthouses.Brown said Friday he hated shutting down his strike force, but felt he had no choice because the county's circuit judges have been asking for additional security since 1994.The sheriff formed the strike force amid controversy in September 1995, a month after removing his deputies from the Carroll County Narcotics Task Force, a joint effort among law enforcement agencies under the supervision of the state's attorney.

The county needs a dozen more electronic security systems to help protect victims of domestic violence, social service officials say, and they're turning to local businesses to help.Five such security systems -- which afford protection for abused victims, their homes and their cars -- have been in use for about six months. But the need is far greater, said Sandra L. Rappeport, director of the Carroll County Family and Children's Services.Jerry F. Barnes, Carroll's state's attorney, said his office anticipates handling more than 500 domestic violence cases this year.

Changes in Maryland's domestic violence laws, which took effect yesterday, give judges added leverage to use protective orders to bar abusers from assaulting or harassing their victims.The modifications in the Family Law Article permit judges to issue a protective order for up to 12 months -- an increase from the previous maximum of 200 days -- and give authority for a protective order to be extended for an additional six months.In Carroll County, where three people were killed in Hampstead during two unrelated domestic violence incidents in May and June, State's Attorney Jerry F. Barnes applauded the changes.

State law should be changed to require monitoring of spouses and intimates who pose a threat to current or former family members, county and municipal officials said yesterday.The demand -- which arose during the County Commissioners' quarterly meeting with the mayors of Carroll's eight municipalities -- came in response to three recent slayings in Hampstead, all of them related to domestic violence.An estranged husband and a former boyfriend have been accused of the killings. One of the victims had sought and received a court protective order.

In a victory for battered women, Maryland's highest court ruled yesterday that a judge must consider an alleged abuser's track record when weighing a request for a protective order.Experts say the Court of Appeals ruling adds teeth to Maryland's domestic violence statute by spelling out for the first time factors that judges must consider when they rule on the estimated 14,000 requests for protective orders filed each year.The 16-year-old law allows spouses, blood relatives and anyone who lives with an abusive partner to file a petition for a protective order in any District Court or Circuit Court.

When violence at home threatens household members -- most often women and children -- the first remedy is a civil order of protection, a court decree requiring that an abusive person stay away for a specified period of time. Strong, well-enforced protective orders can often prevent further abuse.Until 1992, however, Maryland's law governing civil protective orders was one of the weakest in the nation. Among other restrictions, orders could remain in effect for only 30 days and there was no threat of arrest for violations.

Sheena Blandford might still be alive if the judge who issued a final protective order against her abusive husband had also confiscated the gun he used to murder her. Ms. Blandford clearly feared for her life when she applied for a protective order in August after her estranged husband, Theodore Blandford, threatened to kill her. But on her petition for court protection she failed to check a box requesting a judge to confiscate her husband's firearms -...

The General Assembly appears set to approve legislation to confiscate firearms from suspected domestic abusers. Backed by Gov. Martin O'Malley, the two measures - expected to gain final passage Wednesday - would allow judges to take guns from the subjects of temporary protective orders and would require that they do so in the case of final protective orders. O'Malley sought to strengthen the civil protective order process after several high-profile domestic violence killings, and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, whose cousin was shot to death last summer by an estranged boyfriend, testified before two legislative committees about the importance of the bills.

State lawmakers rejected on Thursday an attempt to make it easier for domestic violence victims to arm themselves. Victims advocates had opposed the idea, noting the danger of mixing guns and abuse. The attempt came in the form of a controversial amendment to a bill that would require judges to confiscate guns from the subjects of final protective orders. Supported by Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, that domestic violence initiative was approved earlier by the House without the victims amendment.

A group of senators has added a twist to Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to take guns from the subjects of protective orders, voting to make it easier for domestic violence victims to get guns of their own. By a 6-5 decision, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee amended a bill last week that would require a judge to confiscate firearms when granting a final protective order. They changed the legislation to include a provision that the judge help speed a petitioner's application for a permit to carry a weapon.

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.

House OKs taking gun with protective orders The House of Delegates passed two measures yesterday that would take guns from the subjects of protective orders. Supporters, including Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, say the bills help protect victims of domestic violence, but some lawmakers said the measures were nothing more than a "gun grab." One bill would enable judges to order subjects of temporary protective orders, which last seven days and are granted without hearing from the accused, to turn over their guns.

Even victims advocates acknowledged, by the end of a Senate hearing yesterday, that people falsely accused of domestic violence should be able to erase their public court records. "Everyone's agreeing this is a problem," said Lisae C. Jordan of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The question is what to do about it, they said. Senators took up the contentious issue of how to expunge the records of protective orders that are denied for lack of evidence or because the accuser fails to come to court.

Maryland lawmakers reversed course yesterday on a controversial domestic violence records proposal that they had rejected a day earlier. Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons, a Montgomery County Democrat, spearheaded the effort to revive his plan to allow subjects of protective orders to have their records expunged. Under the proposal, records would be cleared if a judge denies an order after hearing from both the petitioner and respondent or if the accuser does not come to court. On Tuesday, the bill died on the House of Delegates floor by five votes.

From her seat on the floor of the House of Delegates, a freshman lawmaker from Baltimore rose yesterday to address her colleagues, not as one of them but as a domestic violence victim opposing a measure that would have erased public records of some protective orders. Del. Cheryl D. Glenn, a 57-year-old Democrat, told lawmakers that her husband had horrifically beaten her years ago. She said abuse victims have plenty of reasons not to go to court. In her case, she said, her husband threatened to kill her children.

Eldersburg infant's death investigated The state police and the Carroll County state's attorney are investigating the death of an infant that has been ruled a homicide. Ky'leigh M. Rogers, 8 months, of the 900 block of Caren Drive in Eldersburg, died Tuesday after being taken to a hospital with apparent respiratory problems, Maryland State Police said yesterday. The child was pronounced dead at Carroll Hospital Center at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. State police at the Westminster barracks were contacted by the Carroll Hospital Center shortly before the baby died.