Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from how Stuff Works dot com where
Speaker 1: smart Happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, what
Speaker 1: is a restraining order and how do you get one?
Speaker 1: In the past few days, the words restraining order have
Speaker 1: popped into the news several times. In one story, actor
Speaker 1: Edward Furlong, most recently of green Hornet fame, was taken
Speaker 1: to jail for violating a restraining order. A college basketball
Speaker 1: player is facing possible jail time for violating his restraining order.
Speaker 1: As well his crime, he put a post on Facebook.
Speaker 1: You wouldn't think that a Facebook post would be something
Speaker 1: that could get you in jail, but in the world
Speaker 1: of restraining orders, it can actually be a serious offense.
Speaker 1: So let's look at how these things work. Imagine that
Speaker 1: you're in a relationship with someone. It might be a
Speaker 1: romantic relationship and employment relationship, a rental relationship, a neighborly relationship,
Speaker 1: or whatever, but the two of you have a falling out.
Speaker 1: In most cases, the two parties go their separate ways
Speaker 1: and that's the end of it. But sometimes, for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: one of the parties will not let go or will
Speaker 1: start a campaign of harassment. It is in these situations
Speaker 1: that restraining orders come into play. Sometimes there's not even
Speaker 1: a relationship involved. A celebrity might feel threatened by the
Speaker 1: behavior of a member of the paparazzi, or a public
Speaker 1: official might be worried about someone who begins stocking him.
Speaker 1: Restraining orders can also be helpful in these situations. Involving strangers,
Speaker 1: a restraining order is a legal document, usually issued by
Speaker 1: a court that tells one person to stay away from
Speaker 1: another person or entity. The orders come in different flavors,
Speaker 1: depending on the court and the situation. A restraining order
Speaker 1: might specify a specific distance that one person must keep
Speaker 1: away from another, or a restraining order might specify that
Speaker 1: all forms of contact or forbidden. This is how a
Speaker 1: Facebook post can actually become a crime. A restraining order
Speaker 1: might also go so far as to require the restrained
Speaker 1: party to take a class or surrender guns and ammunition.
Speaker 1: The most common reason for getting a restraining order involves
Speaker 1: some sort of domestic dispute. It's thought that more than
Speaker 1: a million restraining orders of this type are issued in
Speaker 1: the United States each year. A person who has been
Speaker 1: the recipient of domestic violence or some other unwelcome behavior
Speaker 1: files a request for a restraining order. Typically, this is
Speaker 1: done by going to the court house, filling out forms
Speaker 1: and paying a filing fee. What happens next varies from
Speaker 1: state to state. The filer may be issued what's called
Speaker 1: a temporary restraining order and then a hearing day to
Speaker 1: set in court so that a judge can decide if
Speaker 1: a permanent restraining order is appropriate. A permanent restraining order
Speaker 1: will have a term like one or two years. In
Speaker 1: North Carolina, where I live. The two most common types
Speaker 1: of restraining orders are the domestic violence protective order and
Speaker 1: the civil no contact order. The former applies to family
Speaker 1: and relationship situations, in the latter to most other issues.
Speaker 1: So for example, if you and your spouse getting an
Speaker 1: argument and your spouse starts beating you, a domestic violence
Speaker 1: protective order would protect you from further violence. On the
Speaker 1: other hand, if a coworker is intimidating you or assaults you,
Speaker 1: a civil no contact order may be appropriate. Once you
Speaker 1: have a restraining order, the question of enforcement becomes important.
Speaker 1: A restraining order is enforced by calling the authorities when
Speaker 1: the order is violated. States vary in their response, but
Speaker 1: in many cases, a person who intentionally violates a restraining
Speaker 1: order will be arrested, as seen in the case of
Speaker 1: the rogue Facebook post. Even seemingly small violations an email
Speaker 1: or a Facebook message, or send anything similar to that
Speaker 1: can have serious repercussions when they violate a court issued
Speaker 1: restraining order. Therefore, if you are the one being restrained
Speaker 1: by a restraining order, the only rational response is to
Speaker 1: make sure you follow the court's instructions in that order
Speaker 1: to the letter. Be sure to check out our new
Speaker 1: video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff Work
Speaker 1: staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities
Speaker 1: of tomorrow. The House Stuff Works iPhone app has arrived.
Speaker 1: Download it today on iTunes.