Family Violence Appellate Project
Giving survivors a second chance at justice
Check out FVAP’s May 2021 newsletter! See the lineup below.
In an interview last week, FVAP’s Legal Director Nancy K.D. Lemon shared with KQED reporters why former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ restrictions on asylum for survivors of domestic violence threaten women’s rights. In 2018, Sessions refused to provide asylum to a survivor of domestic violence from El Salvador who had been abused by her ex-husband for over a decade, deciding that domestic violence is a private or personal crime and not a qualifying reason for asylum. However, violence against women is a deep-rooted societal problem that demands government intervention, and it’s common for survivors to come to the U.S. seeking refuge from abuse because law enforcement in their home country would not provide help. In fact, FVAP is currently representing a survivor of domestic violence who faced this same barrier to safety before coming to the U.S. We are hopeful that the new administration will loosen the current restrictions so that survivors fleeing abuse can get the safety and justice they deserve. Read more in KQED’s article here.
Today we received news that our request for partial publication of the case In re Marriage of Carlisle was granted! The published opinion states that trial courts have jurisdiction to renew domestic violence restraining orders (DVRO) even when the original DVRO is pending on appeal. This means survivors of abuse can still be protected, even if the restrained party in the case files an appeal of the original restraining order.
This publication is also a victory because it clearly prevents abusers from trying to use appeals of DVROs to postpone renewals of restraining orders, which is litigation abuse.
Today we’re doing our annual Recent CA Family Law Appellate Cases training for members of California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. Stay tuned for a recording of this training, which will be accessible through our Legal Resource Library in the coming weeks!
In collaboration with other legal services providers and the California Department of Real Estate, we had the opportunity to contribute to the newly released guide on residential tenants’ and landlords’ rights and responsibilities. Our work focused on including the legal rights and responsibilities of survivors and landlords as they relate to survivors obtaining and maintaining safe housing.
Unfortunately, survivors of domestic violence face discrimination by landlords because landlords are not always informed of the special housing rights that survivors have in order to stay safe. We hope that this updated guide will curb the discrimination we have been seeing.
