When a Restraining Order Fails, a GPS Tracker Can Save Lives

Judge Inna Klein and probation officers from The Community Supervision and Corrections Department are bringing domestic violence reform to Nueces County. By taking more aggressive approaches toward supervision and accountability, and by focusing on rehabilitative services for offenders, they hope to break the cycles of violence.

With human injustices affecting people on the streets around the world, camera phones have become important tools to document crimes. However, the video may not adequately capture the crime to be persuasive in court. The global organization WITNESS has formed as Video As Evidence Program to instruct citizens how to best document crimes with their cameras so that the evidence will stand in court.

State and federal parole officials have rushed during the pandemic to embrace the use of smartphone apps that monitor the location and behavior of a person on parole. The apps and related data analytics save courts money and time by easing the need for face-to-face meetings. While there are potential benefits as well for the people being monitored, such as not wearing stigmatizing and uncomfortable ankle monitors, some complain the apps are even more intrusive than traditional monitoring – and perhaps more apt to lead to technical violations of parole that can land people back in prison.

Philadelphia criminal trials were broadcast live on a public YouTube channel to provide for public access to the courts during the pandemic shutdown, but the practice was halted over a complaint by prosecutors that this means of public access created opportunities for harassment and intimidation of victims, witnesses, and defendants. Responding to an emergency petition by the Philadelphia district attorney, the state Supreme Court halted the YouTube broadcasts. Prosecutors said they will explore alternatives including private Zoom calls and closed-circuit feeds.

In parts of five states and the District of Columbia, domestic violence victims can avoid the trauma and logistical hassles of seeking a restraining order in court by petitioning for court protection via video. Certain counties in Oklahoma, Oregon, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and D.C. allow victims to get help without facing their abusers in court. But a host of barriers have slowed the rollout of such services: limited court budgets, technical security concerns, lack of training, and poor internet connections in rural areas that could be helped by not requiring travel to courthouses.

Algorithm-based tools are more frequently being used by courts to determine the risk of an alleged offender so judges can better determine whether the person should be detained or not before trial. Although this methodology has shown promise, there are serious limitations when there is not enough data or biased data. One non-profit is working to change this by reevaluating the limitations and advocating for the release of individuals being unjustly detained.

In the Mumbai slum of Dharavi, an NGO called Society for Nutrition, Education & Health Action (SNEHA) is working to make life safer by teaching men the importance of not being violent towards women. Through an app called Eyewatch, community members are able to document acts of domestic violence, which helps SNEHA team members locate victims and their abusers.

Maine's rape kit tracking pilot program, designed to give sexual assault survivors more control in their investigations, works like package tracking. Victims receive a postcard with a kit number after evidence collection and can check the status of their kit online.

Domestic violence incidents in Scott County, Tennessee, fell by more than half after it changed the process it uses for handling cases. That’s more than anywhere else in the state. Among other things, the county hired a dedicated domestic violence officer, created an accessible batterers intervention program, combined most of the relevant agencies under one roof, and requires abusers to detail who they are giving their guns to when they have to surrender them.

The Women’s Prison Project reviews Louisiana court cases in which women survivors of domestic violence who claimed they killed their abusive partners in self-defense were sentenced to life by a jury, often in trials that would be considered unfair today. The organization has helped release 10 abuse survivors by pushing for cases to be re-considered.