Silvia’s Sidebar

In the fall of 1994, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which included a provision that allows women to self-petition for permanent resident status without the sponsorship of their abusers. Since the legislation passed, LAFLA’s Immigration and Family Law Units have assisted thousands of domestic violence victims to obtain restraining orders, custody, child support, and immigration status using remedies made possible by VAWA. Since it was first enacted, the number of individuals killed by an intimate partner has decreased by 34% for women and 57% for men and the annual incidence of domestic violence has decreased by more than 50%. VAWA has twice been reauthorized by Congress with unanimous bi-partisan Senate support. This year, however, the reauthorization has met some opposition by Senate Republicans because of changes characterized by the Washington Post as "by no means radical," including a provision that would bar a shelter from turning away a lesbian who has been beaten by her female partner, adjustments in funding formulas to better address the needs of male victims of domestic and sexual violence and an increase in the number of temporary visas available for battered immigrant women.

In this issue of LAFLA Matters, we will highlight some of our work with victims of domestic violence to illustrate the importance of continuing to serve this vulnerable population. Since 1985, LAFLA has operated our Maynard Toll Family Law Counseling Center at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles to provide legal assistance on family law and domestic violence matters. The LAFLA attorneys who staff the Toll Center are experts in civil domestic violence and custody litigation. They do everything from provide legal advice, to pro per assistance from start to finish of the case, to representation at the trial and appellate levels. LAFLA’s attorneys assist with emergency matters like domestic violence and child abduction, including assisting with Hague cases. LAFLA’s linguistically diverse staff provide access to the courts for distressed parents regardless of their language capacity. Toll is unique in that clients can get emergency legal and case management assistance including identifying shelter and safety planning with LAFLA’s on-site case manager. In 2011, LAFLA’s family law attorneys got or maintained custody for 122 parents, got protection from domestic violence for 296 survivors, returned 3 kidnapped children home, prepared pro per leadings for 657 people, DVPA (intended to prevent the recurrent of domestic violence) pleadings for 440 people and educated 2,080 on their rights and responsibilities.

LAFLA also operates two other long-standing walk-in clinics to help domestic violence survivors: one at the Santa Monica Superior Court (since 1989), which is open five mornings a week, and another at the Long Beach Superior Court (since 1987), which is open three days a week. Volunteers are critical to the operation of these clinics, and we will introduce you to Jesse Chavez, an attorney from Bingham McCutchen, LLP, who has volunteered at the Santa Monica clinic since 1999.

Finally, we will share the details of an interesting asylum case that was won by Attorney Kim Luu-Ng through her use of a creative legal theory. As ever, we are grateful to all of our "Partners in Equal Justice" for your support in these and all our endeavors to provide access to justice for poor and low-income people in our community.

Silvia R. Argueta, Executive Director

Please join us in bridging the justice gap by donating to LAFLA today.

 

articles

Budget Cuts Threaten Gains for Victims of Domestic Violence

Susan Millmann, Senior Attorney Santa Monica Office

Susan Millmann

A 2003 study by economic professors Amy Farmer and Jill Tiefenthaler, Explaining Recent Decline in Domestic Violence, provided evidence that confirmed what legal aid attorneys had known anecdotally for years: women who have legal help have a much better chance of breaking the cycle of violence. Of the public services social safety net for victims of domestic violence, a woman’s access to legal services is the most effective in helping her permanently escape a violent home.

As a new family lawyer in 1980, I was stunned when women described unspeakable violence committed against them behind closed doors. There was an eerie similarity in the stories of shattered lives. Judges, lawyers, and mental health professionals had little understanding of the social and psychological dynamics of domestic violence. Unrepresented poor and low-income battered women, often suffering from trauma and with children in tow, wandered through the courthouse, from one overburdened clerk to another, begging for help. There was none available, and poorly prepared, emotionally drained litigants clogged courtrooms and left hearings feeling more battered and frustrated by the justice system they imagined would protect them. If the court issued a protective restraining order, law enforcement had no mechanism to file it or track it and they were often reluctant to enforce it, not wanting to be involved in a family dispute.

Over the next three decades staunch advocates such as shelter workers, lawyers, women’s right organizers, and counselors worked tirelessly to create a safety net of social services and to foster public awareness of domestic violence. In 1994 the O.J. Simpson trial brought the issue into homes across America. Public policy makers took note. New dollars for research on domestic violence unmasked its enormous social costs. The price of domestic violence-related civil and criminal courts, including law enforcement, is huge. Women are four times more likely to be injured in their homes by their current or former partner than in motor vehicle accidents. Between 25 and 35 % of all women seeking emergency care in the United States are there because of domestic violence. Battered women often must use company time to call doctors, lawyers, shelters and counselors because they cannot do so safely from home. Domestic violence is the greatest cause of homeless women and children.

Recognizing the social and personal cost of domestic violence, in 1997 the National Center for State Courts issued a resource handbook for judges and court managers that advised them how to identify, process and resolve custody cases that involve domestic violence. They noted that..."the pervasive impact of domestic violence on our culture is well documented…Significant public and private resources are now supporting government and community efforts to stop violence, empower its victims, hold perpetrators accountable, and foster the development of a violence-free society. Courts play an essential role is these efforts…[and] courts increasingly are confronting domestic violence and attempting to stem its negative effects." Throughout the 1990s, the courts reversed their traditional hands-off attitude and supported establishing courthouse clinics that helped women get restraining orders. In 2005, then Chief Justice Ronald George appointed the Domestic Violence Practice and Procedure Task Force that issued a Report in 2008 with wide-ranging recommendations to improve administration of justice in domestic violence cases and to encourage courts to work with domestic violence community organizations to identify and improve court procedures. Pursuant to this Report, the Administrative Offices of the Courts published a Judges Guide to Domestic Violence Cases, California Protective Orders (2010) "designed by judges for judges to help steer through the maze of choices regarding protective orders…"

The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and other non-profit providers, established Domestic Violence Clinics in nearly every Superior Courthouse in Los Angeles County, most staffed by legal aid attorneys and volunteers, assisting thousands of women annually. They help clients obtain emergency restraining orders. These initial restraining orders provide temporary stability until clients can decide how to secure their long-term safety. The Sheriff enters the restraining orders in the statewide California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS), and law enforcement may call up the information from their Departments or their cars, and make arrests when restrained persons violate orders.

When physical violence stops, batterers often continue the battle in the courtroom and threaten to take away the children. An abusive father who may have had little interest in the children may now fight for custody. There is no surer way to send a woman back to her violent home than the threat of her losing child custody. LAFLA attorneys represent women in court; help them get permanent custody of their children, and child and spousal support orders. In many cases, the abuser may be the sole family support, and without legal help clients are not be able to get the advice they need to stabilize the family, and stave off eviction. In many cases, a client may have to access government benefits to keep the family afloat. This money may make the difference in her difficult transition to self-sufficiency. True to the economists’ findings, lawyers help her secure safety and hope of financial independence.

Bleak budget deficits may threaten these services. A Los Angeles Times headline recently announced, "L.A. County Courts Face 30 million in Cuts." The Times explained that the Los Angeles County Court System had previously cut $70 million in this fiscal year and by the end of June will have 350 fewer employees and 56 newly closed courtrooms. The Presiding Judge commented, "These extraordinary actions cut into the core work of the courts with risks of more reduction on the horizon, we are already rationing justice." And of course, the Legal Services Corporation delivered a 15% across the board cut to federally funded legal services providers for 2012.

We cannot turn back the clock on victims of domestic violence. Now that we understand the depth and breadth of the social costs of domestic violence, we must not abandon our commitment to its prevention. Instead, we must redouble our efforts to preserve and secure the state, federal and local partnership of public, private and non-profit agencies that serve battered women and their children. Although our society has come a very long way in addressing this issue, we still have a long way to go. We cannot afford to erode any part of the social service network.

Volunteer Attorney
Still Going Strong After 13 Years

Jesse Chavez

Each year, LAFLA depends on thousands of donated pro bono attorney hours to help extend the legal assistance that LAFLA provides to its client communities. The support that we get from each of our volunteers has a positive impact on our clients’ lives.  LAFLA’s Santa Monica Domestic Violence clinic depends on the assistance of these volunteers to help staff its small clinic, which provides approximately 350 clients with help on their domestic violence matters each year.

One particular pro bono attorney, Jesse Chavez, an attorney from Bingham McCutchen, LLP, has been an extremely dedicated volunteer.  Jesse has volunteered at the Santa Monica clinic since 1999 and has helped Santa Monica DV victims obtain TROS for almost 13 years now.

Jesse explained that the DV clinic has made him aware of the pervasiveness of domestic violence and its impact on women.  Throughout the years, he has helped countless victimized women and assisted a number of men who have been victimized.  Jesse appreciates the scheduling flexibility that the Santa Monica DV clinic provides and the networking opportunity—he enjoys working alongside LAFLA staff, fellow volunteer attorneys, and law students, to whom he provides guidance and mentorship.
Minty Siu-Kootnikoff, one of the staff attorneys who supervises the clinic, described Jesse as an exceptional volunteer. "Few volunteers endure for so long, so his skills in assisting clients and volunteering are absolutely thorough and matchless. We have been able to rely on the expertise and guidance he provides at each clinic. Thank goodness!"  LAFLA applauds Jesse for his dedication and continued efforts to help LAFLA combat domestic violence in Santa Monica!

From Beginning to End: The Toll Center’s Holistic Approach to Family Law

Brenda Chicas

Ms. A walked into Dept. 8 inside the Downtown Los Angeles Superior Courthouse desperately looking for assistance. She’d heard there were those in the building who could help her with her problems, serious issues that she’d finally gathered the courage to face and resolve. She found her way to the Maynard Toll Center, a walk-in clinic staffed and run by LAFLA’s family law unit and was relieved to find the right place and the right person to help her start the path to changing her life. Brenda Chicas, the family law unit’s intake screener/case manager, welcomed Ms. A.

Brenda is the first person a client like Ms. A sees when coming to the Toll Center to seek help with family law issues like domestic violence. As an intake screener at the Toll Center, Brenda assesses a client’s needs and eligibility and determines if the family law unit is able to help, and, if not, offers the client referrals to other agencies. It is with Brenda’s assistance that the client starts the process of resolving his or her pressing family law issues and needs. In her capacity as a case manager, Brenda works to improve the quality of life and well-being of the client. She does this not only through research, policy work, and community work but also by providing direct service, as she does at the Toll Center every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She offers clients guidance and support as they cope with the difficulties they encounter and the road blocks they find themselves up against while trying to actualize the positive changes they want to make in their lives. She also actively helps the client navigate the myriad of pathways that lead to the broader, greater change they seek. Practically, Brenda helps to facilitate the client’s access to public social services and counseling agencies; and, she works in tandem with a LAFLA attorney to ensure the client is able resolve his or her legal issues.

When Ms. A tearfully spoke about her story, Brenda made notes about her struggles, her pain and the details about the domestic abuse she’d suffered for many years at the hands of her husband. Ms. A made it clear that she now wanted to put an end to her suffering but needed guidance and assistance with how she would be able to do it. After the interview and the determination that Ms. A was eligible to receive LAFLA’s services, Brenda directed Ms. A to LAFLA’s Toll Center family law attorney so that she could obtain a domestic violence restraining order against her abusive husband. The attorney counseled her on what the restraining order stated and what options and rights she had under it and helped her with the process.

In the first step towards her resolve of change, Ms. A was able to obtain a restraining order against her husband and also custody orders of their children. However, she and her children were still living with her husband and not only did she not have alternative shelter, she also had no independent means of financial support. She was again counseled by Brenda who made an assessment of Ms. A’s living and financial circumstances and what options she might have. In order to formulate a plan, Brenda considered Ms. A’s shelter, financial and medical needs and also the needs of her children, including being able to continue to attend school. Brenda searched for a shelter on Ms. A’s behalf but was not able to find one -- there were no free spaces. Fortunately, one of the shelters did offer Ms. A and her children a voucher so that they could spend two nights in a hotel while Brenda continued her search. The family stayed at the hotel that night and met with Brenda again the next day to further explore their financial and shelter options. Brenda continued searching for a domestic violence shelter and was finally able to successfully help place Ms. A and her children. In the safe environment of the domestic violence shelter, Ms. A. began to further the bloom she started when she walked in the Toll Center with the resolve to change her life and leave her husband and situation. Ms. A. thrived and took classes to help her gain the tools and receive the preparation she needed to leave the shelter and lead a healthy, independent, resourceful and self-sufficient life. She had a case manager at the shelter who worked closely with Brenda to assist her in identifying, setting and reaching her immediate goals. Simultaneously, a LAFLA family attorney assisted Ms. A with her divorce petition. Ms. A was also referred to an immigration attorney who helped her adjust her immigration status under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). A year after she first initiated her divorce petition, Ms. A was granted her divorce.

Ms. A stops in now and then to visit Brenda and expresses her gratitude for the assistance and guidance provided her by LAFLA’s family law unit, from initial intake screening at the Toll Center to the finalization of her divorce, and to acknowledge the part they played in helping her to transform and grow into the content and self-sufficient woman she happily tells Brenda she is today.

Long Beach DV Client’s Victory is Eight Years in the Making

At a family law hearing on April 17, 2012, Jennifer Alvarez’s inexhaustible will to reunite her family finally ended in triumph, with a Superior Court judge’s order returning full legal and physical custody of her two minor children. LAFLA Senior Attorney Kate Marr successfully represented client at the family court hearing, arguing that the children’s safety depended upon their return to their mother.

After years of dealing with her ex-boyfriend ignoring court orders, Ms. Alvarez learned, in October 2011, that he and his new girlfriend had been arrested on five felony drug counts. Kate immediately went into court with the charging documents and copies of police reports. The documents indicated that the ex-boyfriend was found with 111 grams of cocaine.

LAFLA Family Law attorneys Paula Cohen (front) and  Kate Marr (rear) at the Long Beach DV Clinic.

The judge issued temporary orders to enforce visitation and custody, but Ms. Alvarez had no idea where her children were. Kate helped secure funding from a charitable organization in Alaska to allow Ms. Alvarez to purchase plane tickets for herself and her two children. She then negotiated with Alaska police to secure their assistance, because our client feared the ex-boyfriend would try to once again flee with the children. When Ms. Alvarez arrived with police escort to pick up her children, she actually caught him in the process of moving with the children.

"I think that this was never about the best interests of the children. The respondent was willing to separate them from their siblings, cut off their access to their mother, and have them living in a home where he was selling drugs and physically abusing his most-recent partner," said Kate Marr.

Background

Ms. Alvarez first came to LAFLA Long Beach DV Clinic in 2004, after being victimized and abused by her ex-boyfriend for years. Kate obtained a domestic violence restraining order and visitation orders for Ms. Alvarez and, shortly thereafter in March 2005, Ms. Alvarez was awarded joint legal custody and primary physical custody at trial. However, getting the ex-boyfriend to comply with orders had been a continual struggle. In April 2007, he told Ms. Alvarez that he would be taking the children to Vegas, but instead disappeared with them. During this period, Ms. Alvarez repeatedly asked her ex-boyfriend for visitation but was continually denied. Later that year, in October, Kate obtained a court order for the Los Angeles County District Attorney to assist in locating the ex-boyfriend to serve him with new court documents.

The ex-boyfriend was located in Alaska and served with court papers. At the subsequent hearing in December 2007, the Court issued orders that included provisions requiring the father to send the children home for visits with their mother, and to allow both telephonic and webcam contact. Again, the ex-boyfriend disobeyed orders, consistently listening in on phone conversations and skipping visits altogether. In December 2008, Kate returned to court to try to enforce the visits. Despite this, Ms. Alvarez’s ex-boyfriend remained very inconsistent with allowing visitation.

"This client suffered years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the respondent. Then, once she was finally able to break free from him, he continued to abuse her by cutting off her access to the children," said Kate. "Our client finally has her children in counseling. She’s now able to ensure that they’re taking their medication and attending school. In fact, she’s participated in formulating Individualized Education Plans for both children," continued Kate.

LAFLA Attorney Wins Asylum Case Using Creative Legal Theory

Kim Luu-Ng, a staff attorney in LAFLA’S Torture Survivors Project/Immigration Unit, secured a life-changing and rather miraculous victory: winning asylum for her client ("Ms. T"), a Cambodian national and a survivor of the Cambodian Genocide orchestrated by the former Khmer Rouge. The client fled Cambodia and entered the U.S. in 2002 on a visitor’s visa; years later, she and her husband were charged with being removable for overstaying their visitors’ visas. In 2007, Ms. T’s husband was granted withholding of removal based on persecution he suffered because of his high level work for the U.S. Defense Attaché in Cambodia. Withholding of removal simply allows an immigrant to live and work lawfully in the U.S. without any path to permanent residence and citizenship.

Ms. T then filed her own application for asylum and withholding of removal based on her fear of persecution by the Cambodian government due to her husband’s work in Cambodia with the U.S. Defense Attaché. Because of Kim’s innovative legal argument, Ms. T obtained asylum as the derivative (despite the fact that her husband had obtained the less protective status of withholding as the principal). With this form of relief, her entire family of eight, including five children and her husband who originally did not receive asylum, will all receive asylum. Ms. T will also reunite with her daughter in Cambodia after being separated for over eleven years. The U.S. government had deported her daughter when she was merely ten years old.

Law Clerk Storm Tiv, left and Attorney Kim Luu-Ng with clients.

According to Kim, "The key to our victory was asserting the Khmer Rouge Tribunal as a changed circumstance and the Ninth Circuit case Vahora v. Holder." (641 F.3d 1038 (9th Cir. 2009)). Last summer Kim developed this legal theory that argues that the ongoing joint tribunal of the royal Cambodian Government and the United Nations and the conviction of Mr. Kaing Guek Eav in July 2010 for war crimes (including ordering the torture and murder of 14,000 Cambodians) formed the basis for a changed circumstance necessitating asylum for Ms. T. Kim obtained key expert declarations (including by one of the prosecutors against the Khmer Rouge) and demonstrated that the war Tribunal has cultivated a tense political climate in Cambodia, as many former Khmer Rouge leaders are still in positions of power today. This changed circumstance generated a new risk of harm to Ms. T because she possesses highly sensitive information regarding a number of high level government officials who are former Khmer Rouge – information that directly implicates their culpability in the genocide and therefore poses risk of harm to her. With regard to the Tribunal itself, international co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley told the AFP (Agence France Press) news agency in a recent interview, "There hasn’t been a case as large and complex as this since Nuremberg," referring to the historic Nazi trials after World War II.

Ms. T’s personal survival story is compelling and makes her asylum victory that much more meaningful. At a very early age, Ms. T was separated from her family and enslaved by the Khmer Rouge at a child slave camp, where she was forced to perform slave labor under threat of violence. Ms. T fell seriously ill and suffered from constant starvation. She witnessed people being tied up and dragged away to be executed and then saw their bodies decay in the river. By the time Ms. T was liberated, a large number of her family members had been murdered; her twenty year old brother was executed after the KHMER Rouge caught him reading a book, for example. To this day, Ms. T is unable to erase from her memory the horrors she suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, many of whom continue to hold positions of power in Cambodia today. Ms. T hopes that the Khmer Rouge, responsible for the murder of more than a million Cambodians, will face justice for their crimes against her people. Thanks to the dedication and innovative strategy employed by Kim to secure her asylum, Ms. T and her family will not have to face persecution at the hands of the Cambodian government.

LAFLA Attorney Honored By Korean American Bar Association

Each year, the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California (KABA) presents a Pro Bono Service Award to an attorney who shows exceptional service to the Korean American community.  This year, KABA presented this award to LAFLA attorney Ann J. Kim.  Ann is a staff attorney in LAFLA’s Asian and Pacific Islander Community Outreach Unit, and she practices family and immigration law.  Ann was recognized for her commitment to KABA’s monthly free legal clinics, which she helps to coordinate and staff, and where she follows-up to represent many individuals eligible for LAFLA as her own clients.  Fluent in Korean, Ann started volunteering at KABA’s monthly legal clinics as a law student several years ago and is a past recipient of one of KABA’s law student scholarships.  Congratulations Ann!

LAFLA API Unit Directing Attorney Joann Lee presents KABA award to Attorney Ann Kim.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

11th Annual Women’s Day in the Park

When: May 18, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Elysian Park

This event is sponsored by the Downtown Women’s Center, Los Angeles Community Action Network and LAFLA

Women’s Day in the Park provides downtown residents with a day of activities and the opportunity to learn about resources and service providers in the community that can assist them and their families. Last year, over 200 women and children participated in the event and enjoyed activities such as dance workshops, a fashion show, health screenings, informational booths, and more.  Link to flyer.
 
There are three easy ways for you and others at your firms (or even your friends and family!) to participate:
 
1) Volunteer for any amount of time on May 18th from 8:30 am to 2 pm to staff the LAFLA table or help serve lunch;
 
2) Donate inexpensive, needed items, such as gift bags, nail polish, flip flops, make up, tablecloths and balloons (mint green colored), breakfast items like breakfast bars or fruit, coffee cups, bottled water, kids activities like coloring books, small toys, puzzles or games; and/or
 
3) Donate any amount of money.