WASHINGTON — Advocates for victims of domestic violence say judges need to do more to protect victims where they are vulnerable: Right outside the courtroom doors.
Laurie Duker, cofounder and executive director of Court Watch Montgomery, an advocacy group, says judges often fail to employ a simple safety strategy to protect victims when they leave court after filing for orders of protection.
Duker explains, “We’re very disappointed to find that judges — over two-thirds of the time — were not using a rudimentary safety procedure that we call staggered exits.”
A staggered exit is when an alleged abuser is held for 15 minutes after the victim leaves court. Duker says allowing a victim to leave court first, then having the alleged abuser wait 15 minutes before being allowed to leave the courtroom can prevent instances of harassment or intimidation in court hallways or parking areas. Duker says both are real problems.
“We’ve documented a woman being harassed from the bottom of the steps at the courthouse all the way to her car.”
And Duker says in one instance, a man tried to hit a victim with his car as the two left court.
In its most recent study of domestic violence cases in Montgomery County, Court Watch Montgomery found that staggered exits were employed by judges 29 percent of the time. In circuit court, the number went up to 51 percent. Duker says the use of staggered exits is not mandated by Maryland state courts, but points out that in 2012 Maryland’s Chief Judge of District Court, the Hon. Ben Clyburn included staggered exits in a list of best practices for judges around the state.
Court Watch Montgomery’s latest report documents how judges conducted hearings over a period of 15 months. The report is based on observations by Court Watch volunteers in 210 protective and peace order cases heard by 18 different judges in district and circuit court.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
