Restraining Order Violation Successfully Dismissed
Lawrence District Court, Massachusetts

Summary: Attorney Eric Schutzbank’s client was charged with violating a restraining order by sending a Facebook Friend request to a friend of the Plaintiff in the restraining order matter. The request included a brief non-threatening message. The underlying restraining order included a provision that prohibited the Defendant from contacting any “relatives or friends of the Plaintiff.” I moved to dismiss the criminal violation charge on the constitutional grounds that the language prohibiting contact with “friends” of the Plaintiff was not a clear and unambiguous order of the Court, and thus was unconstitutionally vague. The Court found that the portion of the Restraining Order prohibiting contact with friends of the Plaintiff was unlawful (which are not grounds to challenge the criminal violation). It also found that the Order as written was vague so that no reasonable person could obey it. There were also other evidentiary issues that were not reached due to the successful argument on the first issue. Case has been dismissed.