Domestic Violence Protection Order Cross-Filings: Mutual Violence or Leveraging State Control?

• In Event: Protection Orders, Legal Processing, and Domestic Violence

Abstract

Most research on domestic violence protection orders (POs) has focused on single petitions - cases where one person in a domestic relationship files for an order against the other person. Very little research has been done on cross petitions - cases where a defendant/respondent in a PO filing then files for a PO against the plaintiff/petitioner. Mutual POs are prohibited by law across the United States as they often have detrimental effects on survivors, including an increased vulnerability to arrest and prosecution. However, “cross petitions” (where both parties file for an order separately) are routinely filed in the Arizona courts, and some filings result in the entry of cross POs.

In this paper, I use logistic regression to analyze 1,567 PO cross-filings in Arizona in 2011. I compare initial filings with cross filings, including the demographic characteristics of the plaintiffs and defendants, the types of violence described in the petitions, the use of legal representation by the parties, and the likelihood that the petition resulted in the granting of an order. The results are discussed in the context of survivor help-seeking, mandatory arrest laws, the increasing number of women arrested for DV, and recent Australian research on cross-filings.

Author

• Alesha Durfee, Arizona State University