Judge Tells Woman to Come on In for Renewal of Restraining Order

I have just received from a client, a copy of a signed personal letter written by Judge Mark S. Coven, of the Quincy District Court, to a woman with a restraining order which is about to expire on May 15, 2009. (As opposed to an official notice of hearing.) It is one of the scariest examples of judicial conduct I have ever seen. See for yourself:

In the letter, Judge Coven says, "For your continued protection, we urge that you appear on the scheduled hearing date and request a further extension of your present order. If, for any reason, you are unable to appear in person, you may telephone our Domestic Violence Office and arrange an extension for a brief period of time until you can appear in person."

This is outrageous! A judge is telling a person to come in and get a restraining order for her continued protection, without having any idea whatsoever if she needs that protection, and is basically promising to issue the order if she does. That is not a correct statement of the law - a restraining order is only available to protect a party from abuse, after showing by a preponderance of the evidence that you need it, not because the court urges you to get another one without having a hearing first.

Then, if the poor dear can't be there, "for ANY reason", she can get it extended by phone, even though the defendant misses work and shows up at the hearing. "Oh, judge, I have to have my nails done tomorrow, and I simply can't come to court. Can you be a darling and put this off a few days for me?" The statute, however, states that if a plaintiff does not show up, the order is to be dismissed. The same offer does not apply to a defendant, of course.

The judge then goes on to say, "In the event you would like to have the order extended but believe that all of its protections are no longer necessary, we would modify your order, at your request, to prohibit abuse only."

They'll modify it, AT HER REQUEST, if she would LIKE IT. Well, that is precious. What a great reason to extend an order - that she'd LIKE IT. All you have to do, apparently, is just request the order, and maybe a modification or two, and it is yours. Never mind that the law says an order can only be extended if the person needs protection from abuse.

This is wrong on so many levels. The judge has overstepped his ethical boundaries grievously, by personally writing one party in a case and asking her to litigate, and stating a false legal standard for the renewal of the order. The judge is also practicing law on behalf of a party. We "URGE YOU" to come and get it, he says, and we'll give it to you.

After seeing this letter, what reasonable defendant could believe that he would get a fair and impartial restraining order hearing in front of this judge, when the judge has virtually already promised to issue the order.

And, because Judge Coven is the chief judge of that court, and the other judges look to him to establish the ethical and legal standards in that court, no one should expect to get a fair hearing from any judge in that court house.

NOTE: I believe that the court should send out notices of restraining order hearings, since they usually a year after the previous hearing, and it is easy to forget. Most don't provide any notice. But this notice is not lawful, ethical, or appropriate.