What is a restraining order, and how do you get one?

Restraining orders are cropping up in the news more and more frequently, but how do they work? Join Marshall Brain as he breaks down the legality of restraining orders -- and how to get one.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Brainstuff from how Stuff Works dot com where
smart Happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, what
is a restraining order and how do you get one?

(00:21):
In the past few days, the words restraining order have
popped into the news several times. In one story, actor
Edward Furlong, most recently of green Hornet fame, was taken
to jail for violating a restraining order. A college basketball
player is facing possible jail time for violating his restraining order.

(00:42):
As well his crime, he put a post on Facebook.
You wouldn't think that a Facebook post would be something
that could get you in jail, but in the world
of restraining orders, it can actually be a serious offense.
So let's look at how these things work. Imagine that
you're in a relationship with someone. It might be a
romantic relationship and employment relationship, a rental relationship, a neighborly relationship,

(01:05):
or whatever, but the two of you have a falling out.
In most cases, the two parties go their separate ways
and that's the end of it. But sometimes, for whatever reason,
one of the parties will not let go or will
start a campaign of harassment. It is in these situations
that restraining orders come into play. Sometimes there's not even

(01:27):
a relationship involved. A celebrity might feel threatened by the
behavior of a member of the paparazzi, or a public
official might be worried about someone who begins stocking him.
Restraining orders can also be helpful in these situations. Involving strangers,
a restraining order is a legal document, usually issued by
a court that tells one person to stay away from

(01:49):
another person or entity. The orders come in different flavors,
depending on the court and the situation. A restraining order
might specify a specific distance that one person must keep
away from another, or a restraining order might specify that
all forms of contact or forbidden. This is how a
Facebook post can actually become a crime. A restraining order

(02:12):
might also go so far as to require the restrained
party to take a class or surrender guns and ammunition.
The most common reason for getting a restraining order involves
some sort of domestic dispute. It's thought that more than
a million restraining orders of this type are issued in
the United States each year. A person who has been

(02:33):
the recipient of domestic violence or some other unwelcome behavior
files a request for a restraining order. Typically, this is
done by going to the court house, filling out forms
and paying a filing fee. What happens next varies from
state to state. The filer may be issued what's called
a temporary restraining order and then a hearing day to

(02:55):
set in court so that a judge can decide if
a permanent restraining order is appropriate. A permanent restraining order
will have a term like one or two years. In
North Carolina, where I live. The two most common types
of restraining orders are the domestic violence protective order and
the civil no contact order. The former applies to family

(03:17):
and relationship situations, in the latter to most other issues.
So for example, if you and your spouse getting an
argument and your spouse starts beating you, a domestic violence
protective order would protect you from further violence. On the
other hand, if a coworker is intimidating you or assaults you,
a civil no contact order may be appropriate. Once you

(03:40):
have a restraining order, the question of enforcement becomes important.
A restraining order is enforced by calling the authorities when
the order is violated. States vary in their response, but
in many cases, a person who intentionally violates a restraining
order will be arrested, as seen in the case of
the rogue Facebook post. Even seemingly small violations an email

(04:04):
or a Facebook message, or send anything similar to that
can have serious repercussions when they violate a court issued
restraining order. Therefore, if you are the one being restrained
by a restraining order, the only rational response is to
make sure you follow the court's instructions in that order
to the letter. Be sure to check out our new

(04:27):
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