For a victim of domestic abuse, harassment, rape or stalking filing an order of protection (aka restraining order) can be as simple as filling out a form, but actually ensuring that it does anything is another matter. Last year 262,327 orders of protection were issued in NY state. Some, like the one handed to former Sen. Hiram Monserrate, did the job, but statistics aren’t kept on how many failed to be successfully served. One that never did reach its recipient was obtained against David Johnson, a close aide to Gov. Paterson, whose domestic abuse has recently come to the light. Turns out recipients can easily avoid the orders of protection by simply not answering a knock on the door or, as in Johnson’s case, by being out of town. When a judge asked Johsnon’s alleged victim whether she had served him with the papers, she said: “No ma’am, he refused to. He avoided it.”
According to Courtroom Advocates Project at Sanctuary for Families co-director Betsy Tsai, “It’s not at all unusual” for abusers to avoid or refuse their protection orders, which can be delivered by hand or by certified mail, sometimes by the victim and sometimes by a third party. The Times reports that In some cases police take the documents to their targets, but they aren’t allowed to enter a home of business in the process, so delivery is by no means guaranteed.
In the case of David Johnson, the woman repeatedly tried to deliver the documents herself, then tried certified mail because he was often traveling. Still, she was never able to prove to the judge that the papers had been received. “And this is just one case in the thousands that go on where people don’t get served,” said Michele McKeon, chief executive of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “An order of protection is a simple tool but it’s only as effective as the enforcement that follows.”
