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England This advice applies to England: England home Advice can vary depending on where you live. In general, civil harassment is abuse, threats of abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or serious harassment by someone you have not dated and do not have a close relationship with, like a neighbor, a roommate, or a friend that you have never dated.
It is also civil harassment if the abuse is from a family member that is not included in the list under domestic violence. So, for example, if the abuse is from an uncle or aunt, a niece or nephew, or a cousin, it is considered civil harassment and not domestic violence. Read about the law in Code of Civil Procedure section A civil harassment restraining order is a court order that helps protect people from violence, stalking, serious harassment, or threats of violence. If you have a close relationship like one of these, consider whether a domestic violence restraining order is best for your situation.
IMPORTANT: If you are 65 or older or a dependent adult, you can file a civil harassment restraining order against someone you are not close to, but you can also file an elder or dependent adult abuse restraining order, which may be better for you because you may be able to get more help before, during, and after the court case.
If you do not qualify for a civil harassment restraining order, there are other kinds of orders you may be able to ask for:. If you are not sure what kind of restraining order you should get, talk to a lawyer. Click for help finding a lawyer. And your local legal services offices may also be able to help you or refer you to someone who can. If you think you have a civil harassment case but would like information about trying to resolve it out of court, click to watch the video Resolving Your Civil Harassment Case in the California Courts also available in Spanish.
Once the court issues makes a restraining order, it goes into a statewide computer system. This means that law enforcement officers across California can see there is a restraining order in place. For the person to be restrained, the consequences of having a court order against him or her can be very severe. If the person to be restrained violates the restraining order, he or she may go to jail, or pay a fine, or both. An EPO is a type of restraining order that only law enforcement can ask for by calling a judge.
Judges are available to issue EPOs 24 hours a day. So a police officer that answers a call because of serious violence or a serious threat can ask a judge for an emergency protective order at any time of the day or night.
For civil harassment cases, EPOs are only available in cases of stalking. If you are being stalked, you can call the police and ask for an EPO. The emergency protective order starts immediately and can last up to 7 days. The judge can order the abusive person to leave the home if they live with you and stay away from you for up to a week.
That gives you enough time to go to court to file for a temporary restraining order. When you go to court to ask for a civil harassment restraining order, you fill out paperwork where you tell the judge everything that has happened and why you need a restraining order.
We know that the criminal court process can be frightening and we want to help put your mind at ease. Putting your confidence in an experienced and trustworthy firm is the first step in a positive court outcome. Often with charges like this the two people involved had a close relationship.
Perhaps what you saw as concern or affection was perceived in another way by the other person. Or maybe you were acting out of anger and jealousy and doing things out of character. Whatever the case, we want to help. We have handled cases like this many times and want to know the details behind your situation.
In some states, harassment that involves monitoring or following the victim is known as stalking. In addition to in-person communication, harassment also occurs where a person uses an electronic device such as a phone or computer to communicate threats, sometimes anonymously.
The prevalence of the internet in everyday life has made harassment via email and social networking sites commonplace. Referred to as cyberbullying or cyberstalking, states have responded in differing ways to the growing problem. Some state legislatures have created separate statutes specifically addressing harassment that occurs online.
Virginia, for example, directly addresses harassment that occurs on the internet, making it illegal to communicate via a computer network obscene language, threats of illegal or immoral acts, and obscene suggestions.
Cyberbullying can have devastating effects on victims. If you are or someone you care about is a victim, seek help. Websites like stopbullying. You might also want to look elsewhere for location-specific information on bullying or cyberbullying; for example, you can try including the name of your state, county, city, or community in an online search.
Specific harassment laws also exist to protect specific classes of persons, such as persons holding public office. Hate crime laws typically prohibit harassment that targets victims based on their age, gender, sexual orientation, or race.
For certain types of activity, many states require repeated acts or a pattern of behavior in order for a defendant to be found guilty of harassment. But where the activity involves physical contact, the threat of violence, or conduct likely to provoke a violent reaction, harassment statutes typically require only a single incident.
For example, Hawaii's harassment statute requires repeated phone calls in order for a violation of the law to have occurred, but the same statute requires only a single occurrence if the language or action is likely to cause a violent response or cause the victim to reasonably believe that the aggressor intends to physically harm the victim.
In some states, it is not necessary that a person threatens immediate harm. In Washington state, for example, a person commits harassment even where the threat is to commit a physically violent act at a future time. Other states require an immediate threat, such as California's criminal threat statute. States recognize both misdemeanor and felony forms of harassment. Many states punish first-time harassment offenses as misdemeanors, but punish subsequent harassment convictions as felonies.
In North Carolina, a defendant's first conviction for stalking is punished as a misdemeanor, but subsequent stalking convictions are punished as felonies. Some states also identify specific types of harassment as deserving harsher punishment.
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