Repeal or reform Ch. 209A (abuse protection orders)
Ch. 209A (Abuse Prevention) is the state’s “restraining order” law.
The law, as written, allows a woman to have her husband (or boyfriend or otherwise father of their children) thrown out of their (or his own!) home, obtain full custody of their children, and provide that he not be allowed to contact her--or his own children!--directly or by third party, under penalty of 2.5 years in jail and a fine of $5,000.
Remarkable!
Consider: This is not done after a hearing in front of a jury. It is done “ex parte” -- without even the man’s knowledge that the restraining order has been sought. There is even a person in the courthouse dedicated to the sole purpose of helping women obtain such emergency restraining orders (so called “victim witnesses).
All she needs to do -- by the language of the law -- is “claim” to be in fear of the man. She does not need to present any evidence that she has been assaulted. She does not need to even manufacture a lie that she has been assaulted, because the law merely requires that she be”in fear.” Fear is a subjective state of mind that cannot be disproved!
Ch. 209A is a POLICE-STATE law. It belongs in a tyrannical society such as the former Soviet Union, or Nazi Germany.
The law needs to be immediately repealed. If the commonwealth believe that a law should be written that prescribes punishment for something that *might* happen, they do not understand the meaning of “freedom,” and I suggest would be right at home in Nazi Germany or a Muslim theocracy.
Note: Assault and battery is already a crime. If some new criminal law needs to be enacted to reflect the needs of family members from inter-family violence, it should be criminal in nature -- not quasi civil/criminal like 209A. Under such a ‘criminal’ statute, accused “batterers” would be presumed innocent until proven guilty, be accorded due process protections like other accused criminals, and women who “cry abuse” could be legally punished when they attempt to falsely criminalize an innocent man to gain possession of his children, his property, income and wealth.