False allegations in PPO, no proof given in hearing, civil rights violation?

[asof2005]

Any one ever heard of getting a civil rights lawyer based on having rights taken away by a false PPO?  The hearing went on with not one request of validity of the accusations and the PPO was ordered to stay in place.  Now, the burden of proof lies on the petitioner and in this case the respondent has ample proof to counter the accusations.  Have already been in front of the judge on an appeal because of a missed first hearing (no letter was received with the original date.)  Do we wait to hire a lawyer until the PPO is up for review in February?   We would like to expose how PPOs and ROs are used as a tool during custody issues between parents.

[gemini3]

I don't know that it's a big secret that orders of protection are used as weapons in custody disputes.  It's an old trick, and every lawyer knows it.

The current system allows these orders to be granted without any evidence except the testimony of the person requesting it - which makes them ripe for abuse.  Most judges will grant it because they think it's better to be safe than sorry. 

[Kitty C.]

Glenn Sacks currently has a very interesting article specifically about that on his blog:

http://glennsacks.com/blog/?p=4357 (http://glennsacks.com/blog/?p=4357)

[asof2005]

The current system allows these orders to be granted without any evidence except the testimony of the person requesting it - which makes them ripe for abuse.  Most judges will grant it because they think it's better to be safe than sorry. 

I completely understand why they are granted, especially ex-parte, what I don't understand is how they cannot have a fair hearing with evidence, witnesses and the like.  Like the article mentioned below, even a murderer, rapist, scum of the earth get fair trials, basic constitutional rights before they are proven GUILTY and THEN their rights are taken away.