Family Court judge's job also social worker, counselor
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Her former live-in boyfriend was nowhere near the tiny courtroom, but the woman in the pink top and floral skirt shivered and trembled just the same as she sat before the Family Court judge.
Her former boyfriend, who had been arrested at least 44 times, now has threatened to kill her.
"It's going to be OK," Family Court Judge Mark Browning told her. "I don't need to tell you that this guy is a very dangerous guy."
She nodded quickly, her breathing rapid and shallow.
The woman asked in a soft voice if the restraining order she has obtained against the man applies whether he is in prison or not. She let out a quivering sigh and smiled when she learned that it would.
"He's going to be brought in front of me," Browning said before extending the temporary restraining order to a permanent one. "Good luck, ma'am."
Soon after, a man and woman sat silently on opposite sides of the table as Browning ordered the man to undergo counseling for domestic violence. The man was accused of abusing the woman and of trying to hurt her and their child by cutting the brake lines in her car.
He told Browning he had attended domestic violence counseling in March.
"March? These allegations were in August," Browning said. "Maybe you need to go again, yeah? I think you need to go again."
These glimpses of personal turmoil represent fleeting snapshots of the
cases heard by Browning and other Family Court judges in Hawai'i every day. The proceedings are confidential, but a reporter from The Advertiser was allowed to attend for two days recently with the understanding that the names of private individuals would not be published.
Browning and Family Court Judge Karen Radius handle most of the Family Court's restraining order requests, which involve relationships ranging from boyfriends, girlfriends and spouses to siblings, parents and adult children.
The restraining orders require the defendant to have no contact with the victim either temporarily or permanently, with the threat of jail time if the conditions are violated.
"Cases, in terms of the facts, range from the bizarre to scenarios that are incredibly tragic," Browning said.
A growing caseload
Requests for restraining orders in domestic abuse cases have grown by 40 percent in the last five years and consume an ever-growing portion of the Family Court calendar. The number of requests for domestic abuse protective orders went from 2,553 in 1995-96 to 3,570 in 1999-2000.
But that doesn't necessarily mean domestic abuse cases are on the rise, said Nancy Kreidman, executive director of the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse, a private, nonprofit organization that provides services to victims.
"I think the problem has just been better hidden, a better kept secret, and access to the courts and to resources had been more limited," she said. "As a community, I think, we're doing a really good job informing victims that there are resources that we've created here that are available. So as a result, more and more people are saying to themselves: 'I've waited long enough, I haven't seen any change, the abuse seems to be escalating, and I know there's this thing called a temporary restraining order and I'm going to go get one.' "
Family Court judges haven't been able to consistently monitor whether defendants are following court orders to participate in programs such as domestic violence counseling or drug treatment. But judges are now setting aside time in a review calendar to check up on defendants' progress in such programs.
"What happened before is that judges would issue orders like counseling and you never see them again," Browning said. "Who knows what they're doing? There's an incentive to do the counseling if they know they're going to have to come back and talk to me or some other judge."
"We want to make a difference, and it is frustrating if we don't have a way or a means to make sure that parties or individuals are complying with orders. There's no point in ordering things that you don't know whether or not it will be complied with."
Defendants who don't comply with the order and don't have a good excuse will be charged with contempt of court.
The idea is to stop the cycle of abuse and keep victims and families safe, the judge said.
According to a report by the attorney general's office last year, police made 1,261 arrests related to violations of temporary restraining orders in 1999. That's a decrease from 1,470 such arrests in 1998.
People don't always readily agree to attend programs. In a recent case involving an abusive father and former husband, the man insisted he could not pay for domestic violence counseling because he didn't have a job. When Browning told him he would have to find work, the man responded loudly: "I ain't going get a job."
Browning told him sternly that if he couldn't show proof of counseling when he returned to court, he would face criminal contempt charges and could go to jail. The man scoffed at the jail threat and was almost taken into custody for contempt of court after he swore and ignored the judge's warnings to behave.
But the man later apologized, insisted he was telling the truth when he said he couldn't get a job, and said he was disabled.
"By telling you you gotta go counseling, that's not to punish you, it's to help you," Browning said, the tone of his voice softening. "Your family needs you, OK?"
"I need them, too," the man said.
Emphasizing safety
Tears welled up in the young woman's eyes as the judge rejected her request to dissolve the temporary restraining order she had obtained against her husband just two weeks ago.
"With the TRO, I don't think we can fix our marriage," she had explained in submitting the request to dissolve the order.
Her husband told the judge that he had just lost his job earlier this year, that his wife did things to provoke him and that he would never hurt their children. He said the judge can continue the restraining order keeping him from his wife, but asked that it not include his children.
"When you physically assault your wife, it's psychologically and emotionally abusive to your kids," Browning said. "You got a problem, man. You need help."
The young man put his head down on the table as the court officer read him the terms of the restraining order: that he was not to have any contact with his wife, that he was to see his children on supervised visits only, and that he was to undergo domestic violence counseling.
Browning turned to the young woman, who wiped her face with a tissue.
"He's gotta get help," the judge said. "You're not helping him by just letting this thing ride. ... If he really loves you and loves your children, he'll do it."
"Gut-wrenching," Browning said after the man and woman left the courtroom. "There's no way that circumstances change in two weeks. ... That guy needs help. He needs some serious counseling. She needs help. She needs safety."
Judges often see victims returning and asking the court to lift the temporary restraining order they had just obtained. Such requests are rarely granted, and sometimes people making the request appear relieved when they're told it can't be done, Browning said.
Another young woman asked Browning to lift the restraining order she filed against her former live-in boyfriend, even though she stood by her earlier allegations that he physically abused her over several years, threatened her and damaged her property. They share a young daughter.
"He pretty much tore up my place," she said. "His response was, 'Wait, it's not over.'"
She told Browning she found the legal process frustrating and inconvenient because she was busy with work and school. The judge refused to throw out the temporary restraining order, saying: "What he's done to you is absolutely ridiculous."
"Though it may be inconvenient for you to come back, your life is important," he told her, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I've had people come before this calendar who have died. They didn't think they were going to. ...
"I don't want you to become another statistic. Your daughter needs you."
At the end of the day, Browning had heard about 20 cases, including those involving two teenagers who used to date, a woman who asked the court to protect her from her granddaughter, and a man insisting his former girlfriend — who is pregnant — was dangerous.
Browning, who has been a full-time Family Court judge for four years, makes sure to keep a long-standing promise to himself that he let go of the day's events on the drive home from the Circuit Court building.
"As a Family Court judge, you have many different roles because you are front and center a player in what goes on," he said in his office, which is filled with more than a dozen pictures of his own family. "You act as a judge. You act as a social worker in many occasions. You act as a counselor."
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.
