Why Would I Get a No Contact, Harassment Restraining and Protection Order?

In most cases I expect the answer to this question to be very self-evident. The bottom line is, if you need protection from somebody that you feel honestly means you harm, than you need to act.

The problem with this combined with the increasingly litigious society that we live in, is these orders are getting stupidly common and seem to hold decreasing weight among the people that should be enforcing it. Do not get a restraining order on somebody if they are just being a pain in the butt. It will be a waste of time and money and just make the plaintiff look silly. If, on the other hand, you are dealing with somebody that has threatened you, been violent or aggressive with you or your family and you actually feel they may be an honest threat, then you have to.

We endured a local mother yelling at my wife, yelling at our child and calling her names, talking bad about our child behind her back to parents and children, trying to force her way into our home to further yell at my wife and routinely eavesdropping on our outdoor activities without taking such action. When she then was charged with disorderly conduct for getting physical with my wife in the road in front of the same daughter that she previously harassed is when we had to take legal action.

In hindsight should we have sooner? Perhaps, but when you consider the evidence you need to build a case it just didn't seem worth it the time and expense, we were better served just marking her as mentally ill, in our opinion, and staying away, only saying anything in places like schools and community education outlets to make sure our kids would be kept safe from this woman and separated from her children.

The moral of this story is don't make a knee-jerk reaction to go right for the restraining order unless you have to, otherwise it just ends up labeled as another frivolous case cluttering up the court system. You are better off contacting the police and filing reports, and keeping a person journal of the smaller incidents and build your case until, God forbid, something serious happens.

If you are being threatened, have been assaulted, or honestly and truthfully feel you are in danger, damn it, get to the police station!