Judges

For years, our Facts & Stats report has consistently been among our most download and most known publications. We're excited to announce the 2020 update to the report, with new statistics on domestic violence, community attitudes, health and mental health impacts, children's exposure to violence, help-seeking behavior, domestic violence related homicide, and more. The Facts & Stats Report is our most comprehensive collection of peer-reviewed, reliable data on abuse affecting AAPI communities.

• Quickly locate reliable data on abuse affecting AAPI communities
• Use in grant applications or reports
• Use during trainings, workshops, and other presentations
• Create infographics, shareables, and other graphics for online engagement and social media
• Break down the myth that AAPI communities are not impacted by domestic violence!

Programs that work with perpetrators of intimate partner violence are changing as practitioners across the United States employ new strategies to improve outcomes for both offenders and survivors. Courts and judges have an opportunity to build on this exciting time of change. This document describes the innovative approaches to risk assessment, treatment modality, compliance, and procedural fairness that intervention programs for abusive partners are using to enhance victim safety and offender accountability.

This article, written by Lynn Hecht Schafran and published in the Summer 2014 issue of The Judges Journal, discusses current science on the impact that witnessing domestic violence has on children's developing brains.We are at a watershed knowledge-development point with respect to understanding the impact of domestic violence on children. This has been a subject of judicial concern and commentary for decades. Now, with the advent of magnetic resonance imaging, neuroscientists have produced scores of studies documenting on a neuronal level the profoundly negative impact of exposure to domestic violence on children, and how children can recover when exposure to the violence is eliminated and they are secure in the care of their non-abusing, primary caregiver parent.

This publication is also known as Passport to Safety and is designed to facilitate the efforts of states, tribes, and territories to implement Full Faith & Credit Provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Since its initial printing in 1999, VAWA has been amended three times – in 2000, 2005, and 2013. This version reflects the 2005 amendments and expands Passport to Safety from its original issuing and enforcing bench cards to include two new subject-area cards: one on firearms and one on custody, visitation, and support provisions within protection orders.

This report reflects research on the latest legal, educational, and programmatic responses to teen sexting and answers questions judges and other community
leaders may have about this challenging issue. The guidelines at the end of the report suggest key factors for judges to consider in adjudicating these cases and offer suggestions for how judges and other community leaders can educate the public about sexting, prevent unintended consequences for teens who engage in this activity, and distinguish between voluntary, social/sexual experimentation or exploration and coercive, controlling and detrimental tactics that could belie destructive and dangerous youth relationships.

Technologies like text messages, emails, or social media are popular means of communication and information sharing. People can be in constant contact with each other through their devices such as cell phones, computers, and tablets.Gaming consoles also allow users to talk, text, or video chat through their X-box or PlayStation independent of playing a game. It is now common practice for people to engage with these technologies socially and professionally. While these technologies have great potential to connect individuals and communities, they also can be misused to intimidate and harass others or to invade their privacy. This guide includes some of the current technologies and technology terms that may arise in cases involving technology abuse.

This toolkit offers free resources from the ABA for implementing the federal Pro Bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2018 (POWER Act), focused on helping victims of domestic, dating, sexual, and stalking violence gain access to critical pro bono legal services. The POWER Act authorizes the chief judge in each federal judicial district to host at least one public event annually to promote free legal services for survivors of these types of gender-based violence.

This publication is known as the CPO Guide and is an updated version of the publication: A Guide for Effective Issuance & Enforcement of Protection Orders, also known as the Burgundy Book. The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, in partnership with the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women developed the CPO Guide as a tool designed to support the work of professionals dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of the civil protection order process. It provides guidance for advocates, attorneys, judges, law enforcement personnel, and prosecutors to help ensure that protection orders are effectively issued, served, and enforced across the country.

Recognizing that judges have grappled with the propriety of participation in extrajudicial activities for decades, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ (NCJFCJ) 2017-2018 Family Violence and Domestic Relations Steering Committee set the development of guidance on extra-judicial activity as a priority to encourage judges to engage in judicial leadership. This guidance is the result of the review of judicial ethics codes promulgated by states, the District of Columbia, Territories and tribes, as well as opinions issued by judicial ethics committees and commissions. This guidance is designed to serve as a tool for judges evaluating whether a proposed extra-judicial activity meets the requirements of the judicial code of conduct in the jurisdictions where ethics opinions have been published.