The Governor's Working Group on Child Center Laws did not work for a number of reasons.

His Excellency, Governor Deval Patrick

On September 27, 2013 I attended a restraining order session at Quincy Court.

This session made it clear that our judiciary still has a problem with respect to the issuance and renewal of 209a restraining orders.

The session was methodically run.

First up were single party petitions for extensions or termination of a restraining order.  In most cases the restraining order was continued or terminated based upon which individual appeared the defendant or the plaintiff.

Next up were the cases where both parties appeared.

In these cases one might expect to hear contradicting stories.

However that was seldom the case.  What was common was a plaintiff seeking a restraining order without a legal basis for obtaining one.

Massachusetts Attorney General again refuses to certify petitions on 'abuse protection' due process rights and for a presumption of shared parenting.

The AG's excuse is that the two petitions will 'affect the powers of the courts'.  The real reason, however, is that they would require that justice be  administered in the courts and the welfare system for family court lawyers in particular would be drastically reduced.

http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/government/2013-petitions/13-18-letter.pdf

http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/government/2013-petitions/13-19-letter.pdf

The AG's decision can however be appealed.  Contact us if you would like to support an appeal.