Nonprofit Says Protection Orders for Abuse Victims Are Being Delayed

Legal Aid Chicago said Tuesday it's suing the court clerk, saying her office isn’t meeting its legal duty to provide orders of protection to domestic violence victims immediately after they’re granted.  They say it’s been a huge problem since the pandemic began, potentially impacting hundreds of people. 

“Everything a survivor has done up until that point is meaningless because she can’t prove to anyone that she has that protection and if she calls the police and says, ‘I need your help, he’s here, she’s here and I’m in danger,’ they’ll look that up in their system and find nothing, so it is as if that person – that survivor of abuse – had never gone to court at all,” said Benna Crawford, Legal Aid Chicago. 

Court Clerk, Dorothy Brown’s office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about her staff’s handling of orders of protection.

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