Sen. Becker has introduced SB 130 which requires a court to either grant or deny an order for protection in domestic violence situations within a day of the request. Specifically, this seems to apply to situations where the petitioner is asking for an immediate, ex parte, order. (“Ex parte” means that one of the parties hasn’t been given a chance to present their side to the court yet. Usually, when something is permitted to happen ex parte, it’s done for a brief period of time until the court can conduct a fuller hearing on the matter.) The current statute is here.
Urgency is no doubt necessary in a lot of situations, so the intent of the bill is laudable. But I don’t see any consequences if the court doesn’t issue an order within the day. I suppose you could request the Supreme Court to issue a mandamus order, compelling the lower court to act; but that won’t exactly be speedy either. Maybe there aren’t any great consequences the legislature could impose. Our justice system is designed for many things; but being nimble isn’t one of them.
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