Legal Standards Target Protective-Order Breakdowns

Check out this article on Women's ENews that discusses Protective Orders. They discuss the recent sad murder of a woman by her accused rapist. They discuss flaws in the Protective System as well as information to help understand this kind of violence. I think this is a step in the right direction but I still feel women need more protection in these cases. Our society needs to show that we feel these women's lives have VALUE and treat threats and stalking should be taken much more seriously. I think if someone is threatening and stalking.... the stalker themselves should be contained.... unless someone is going to be assigned as a body guard for the victim.

"Maria Frances Lauterbach, who was a lance corporal with the U.S. Marines, should be cradling a newborn around now. Instead, Lauterbach's burnt body was found Jan. 11, weeks after her death on Dec. 14. She was eight months pregnant when she died from a blunt trauma to the head. Her body was discovered in the Jacksonville, N.C., backyard of Cpl. Cesar A. Laurean, also a Marine. Lauterbach's military court-ordered protection order against Laurean expired 10 days after her death.

Authorities believe Laurean fled to Mexico on Jan. 11 after giving his wife a note saying that Lauterbach slit her own throat. He was indicted on Jan. 24 by a Jacksonville grand jury on first-degree murder charges. Mexican officials issued a warrant for Lauren's arrest and will extradite him to the United States if he is apprehended.

Military officials said he was not held as a suspect because Lauterbach and Laurean appeared to have a "friendly relationship" despite a rape allegation that occurred in May. Following that allegation, Lauterbach was given an order of protection by the military. The county sheriff told reporters that he was unaware of the protection order until Jan. 7.

Lauterbach reported that she was raped to military officials and investigators, who issued a protection order that was automatically renewed three times while the investigation was pending. Laurean denied the rape and refused to speak with detectives investigating her disappearance in December."

Also...

"Garcia, whose group assisted the American Bar Association with the stalking portion of the guidelines, said that among stalking victims, 28 percent of those who are female and 10 percent of those who are male obtained protective orders. Of these, violations occurred for 69 percent of females, 81 percent of males. Women are 73 percent of stalking victims overall.

In addition, the Department of Justice's most recent data reports that nearly a third of women murdered in 2005--33 percent--were killed by an intimate partner, a proportion that has been increasing. About 1,200 U.S. women are killed by intimate partners every year, according to the most recent national health statistics.

Garcia advises stalking victims to understand the pros and cons of protective orders. She said they work when they are enforced and bolster evidence for a potential court battle, but can be dangerous and escalate violence if not effectively enforced.

In her trainings for law enforcers and advocates about helping victims' safety planning she recommended that victims cut off contact with offenders, log any encounters and hand out fliers with an offender's photo to family and friends.

The American Bar Association has published dozens of national standards, available on its Web site. Previous standards--included in lawyers' trainings and often cited in case law and briefs--have covered the representation of children in custody cases and people facing the death penalty.

Garcia said lawyers had to be particularly alert to stalking, which is often a precursor to violence against property or the person seeking the order.

Threats, she said, often aren't obvious. For example, if a man sends roses to a woman despite a no-contact order, an untrained judge or lawyer might think it's a touching display of an abuser's wish to reunite. The abused woman, Schafran said, feels vulnerable after the violation and "knows it's a threat."