Last month the NJ Assembly Judiciary Committee approved three bills designed to help the New Jersey’s domestic violence victims. The bills address the issues of bail restrictions for restraining order violators, self-defense justification pleas, and lease and rental protections for domestic violence victims. (1) Under the first bill, violators of…
The statistics are alarming: in one year, close to 1.5 million high school students in this country suffer physical abuse at the hands of the person they are dating. (1) This issue is not unique to any specific social, economic or racial group and the most serious cases end up…
When Terry Dusseault Sr. ran off with his 8-year-old son on August 25, police did not hesitate to issue an Amber Alert. The senior Dusseault was a registered sex offender and his brother was concerned about his mental condition when Dusseault Sr. took his son. The two were found unharmed…
Religion cannot be used as a defense for non-consensual sexual relations between a husband and wife, according to a recent ruling by the New Jersey Appellate Court. The Appellate Court recently overturned a decision by a Hudson County Superior Court judge whereby a woman had been refused a restraining order…
Two years after the murder of a New Jersey mother of two, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would increase protection for victims of domestic violence and the children of those families. In June 2008, Monica Paul was shot and killed, allegedly by her estranged boyfriend, in a north…
Loveland v. Hauke, N.J.Super.A.D., 2007 (unpublished opinion). This is a domestic violence case where the plaintiff alleged defendant acted with a purpose or intent to harass. The plaintiff, in attempting to explain her fear, attempted to testify to incidents that were not outlined in her complaint. In fact, the plaintiff…