Solution Oriented Domestic Violence Prevention Court Groundbreaking venture Staffing, organization under way for new 3rd Circuit program

By John Minnis Legal News Wayne County Family Division Judge Richard B. Halloran went recruiting recently at his alma mater, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, seeking interns to work in the new Solution Oriented Domestic Violence Prevention Court. "How many of you would like to work in the domestic violence court?" Halloran asked students following his talk Nov. 18 in the UDM Law School Atrium. Many students raised their hands. "We want to prevent any further domestic violence. We want to not just issue PPOs and say, 'Good luck!'" Halloran said students at Wayne State University Law School are also being invited to take part in the program. The Solution Oriented Domestic Violence Prevention Court (SODVPC) is being made possible by a $300,000 grant the court received in October. It will be housed in Wayne County Third Circuit Court. Katie Strickfaden, staff attorney at the Lakeshore Legal Aid's Free Legal Aid Clinic, has been hired as the court's administrator. "It's very exciting," Strickfaden said of her groundbreaking role as the SODVPC's first manager, a full-time position. As an attorney with Lakeshore Legal Aid, she had made many appearances in court and is well known by the Family Division judges. When asked how she envisions the court working, she said, "We're figuring that all out. It's not my vision of it that's going to control. It is that of the (many) partners in it." The SODVPC will provide a point of entry to the judicial process for victims of domestic violence in the tri-county area. The court will not only help victims obtain personal protection orders, it will also provide domestic violence resources and solutions. The goal is to reduce the number of domestic violence related crimes in Wayne County. The goals of the SODVPC are to establish partnerships in the community, establish a unified approach to serving victims of domestic violence, ensure victims are offered secure access to judiciary and staff, and to hold batterers accountable through enhanced sentencing procedures and judicial monitoring. Halloran, a "team leader" of the court along with Family Division Judges Charlene M. Elder and Connie Marie Kelley, said another goal of the SODVPC is to mandate abusers attend yearlong classes to "unlearn" their violent tendencies. "We also want to learn what we can do to help victims of domestic violence," Halloran said. "Most domestic violence courts dwell on the criminal side." One student asked about children from domestic violence households. "The biggest thing is what to do about children for visitation purposes," Halloran said, adding that perhaps a grant could be obtained to provide visitation facilities. "We do very little to prevent domestic violence," the Family Division judge said. "It is learned behavior. Abusers grew up in abusive households. Ladies and gentlemen, when we get older, we become our parents." Another student asked about training police officers. Halloran agreed it was a good idea. "If you explain to officers what the goal is in enforcing PPOs," he said, "they get much more supportive." A strong proponent of PPOs, Halloran oversaw the PPO docket from 1998 to 2002. During that time, he oversaw 70,000 PPOs. He has also testified before the Michigan Legislature, encouraging the enactment of criminal laws establishing the crimes of domestic violence and stalking. Halloran is co-author of "Stalking Behaviors Within Domestic Violence" in the Journal of Family Violence, and, under his leadership, the Wayne County Coordinating Council to Prevent Domestic Violence published a domestic violence handbook. Halloran was co-chair of the Wayne County Coordinating Council to Prevent Domestic Violence for seven years, 1993 to 2000. He also served on the Governor's Task Force (1997) to develop uniform standards for batterer intervention programs throughout the state, was a member of Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment (1998-2001) and founder of M.A.R.K. (Men Acting Responsibly is the Key), an organization to encourage men to help stop family violence, in 2003. He also serves on the Domestic Violence Committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Halloran, who has been on the bench for 20 years, said he became involved in domestic violence when his daughter, 13 years old at the time, was punched in the face by a boy seeking to "prove he was a man." He described for students how domestic violence develops from possessive dating to a controlling marriage. Suspicion escalates into violence. Alcohol is often involved and is often cited as an excuse. "You can't (hit) when you're drunk," Halloran said, "but you can do it when you are pretending you are drunk." Prior to 1994 in Michigan, and in most states, domestic violence was known as a "family problem." Police ignored it or courts granted a temporary injunction, which required the victim to hire an attorney to argue for a preliminary injunction. In a domestic violence situation, the victim rarely has her (or his) own finances to hire an attorney. The 1994 legislation made domestic violence and stalking crimes and provided for PPOs. Also, the victim was no longer required to "press charges" in order for the state to prosecute the offender. One student asked about the claim that PPOs have become too easy to get, thus harming the innocent. "Yes, sometimes it is used (improperly) in a divorce situation," Halloran said. "Occasionally it is unjustified, but if we didn't have them, there would be a lot more people getting killed. PPOs work because of the whole dynamics of domestic violence. I call it the 'Bigger Bully Theory.' You separate them and you take away their power." Published: Wed, Nov 24, 2010

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