Jan. 12, 2002, 9:33PM
By FRANCIS X. CLINES
New York Times
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The violent arena of domestic abuse litigation has grown more volatile after a judge has decided to hold two women in contempt of court for returning to men who had been ordered to stay away from them.
"You can't have it both ways," ruled Judge Megan Lake Thornton of Fayette District Court in levying fines of $100 and $200 in recent weeks against the two women, who had obtained emergency protection orders forbidding future contact with their partners but later relented and contacted the men. Thornton, ruling that the order was mutually binding, cited the men for contempt as well.
"It drives me nuts when people just decide to do whatever they want," said Thornton, who is experienced in the state's thick domestic abuse docket, which produces close to 30,000 emergency orders of protection a year. State officials describe what they say is a virtual epidemic of abusive relationships in the state.
Thornton's ruling alarmed advocates for battered women, who plan to appeal it.
The advocates say the finding goes beyond existing law and is unrealistic because some renewed contacts often prove unavoidable in domestic abuse cases, which involve economic and family dependencies and other complications of daily living.
The state office on domestic violence has pointedly agreed, warning that the ruling could cause abused women to hesitate in bringing their plight before the courts for fear of being chastised for their trouble.
"The reality is it's easy to say they should never have contact," said Sherry Currens, executive director of the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association, an advocacy and legal protection group.
"But we're talking about people in long-term relationships. They may have children in common. It's pretty hard to say, `Never speak again.' People have financial difficulties. They may love the partner. It's not an easy thing."
But Thornton declared in court, "When these orders are entered, you don't just do whatever you damn well please and ignore them."
The ruling stunned Cindra Walker, lawyer for the two women, who is with Central Kentucky Legal Services, which represents many of the thousands of indigent women in the state caught in abusive relationships.
"For over five years, I've been in court practically every day on these abuse cases, and I've never before had a victim threatened with contempt," Walker said.
"The domestic violence law is a tool for victims to use to be safe," not a device to punish them, she said.
One of the women said she eventually moved back with her partner while the other had occasional contacts, Walker said.
Thornton's two rulings made clear that she expected the original protection orders against all contact to apply equally to the person suspected of abuse and the abused.
"They are orders of the court," the judge declared, according to court transcripts obtained by The Lexington Herald-Leader.
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