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Laughing At Restraining Orders
Eagleforum ^ | September 13, 2006 | Phyllis Schlafly

Posted on 09/12/2006 2:55:10 PM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Borrowing the title of a famous George Gershwin ditty, "they all laughed" when a Santa Fe, New Mexico family court judge granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) against TV talk show host David Letterman to protect a woman he had never met, never heard of, and lived 2,000 miles away from. Colleen Nestler claimed that Letterman had caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" for over a decade by using code words and gestures during his network TV broadcasts.

That ridiculous TRO was dismissed last December, but according to a new report released this week by RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting), the case was not a judicial anomaly but "the logical culmination of years of ever-expanding definitions of domestic violence." RADAR is a Maryland-based think tank that specializes in exposing the excesses of the domestic violence bureaucracy.

The New Mexico statute defines domestic violence as causing "severe emotional distress." That definition was met when Ms. Nestler claimed she suffered from exhaustion and had gone bankrupt because of Letterman's actions.

The New Mexico statute appears to limit domestic violence to "any incident by a household member," and Letterman, who lives in Connecticut and works in New York, had never been in Ms. Nestler's household. But New Mexico law defines household member to include "a person with whom the petitioner has had a continuing personal relationship," and Ms. Nestler's charge that Letterman's broadcast of television messages for eleven years qualified as a "continuing" relationship and thereby turned him into a "household member."

The family court judge who issued the TRO, Daniel Sanchez, may have been predisposed to believe any allegation presented to him by a complaining woman even though she had no evidence. His own biography lists him as chairman of the Northern New Mexico Domestic Violence Task Force.

(Excerpt) Read more at eagleforum.org ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: wackjob
Hillary makes me ill, can I sue her?
1 posted on 09/12/2006 2:55:11 PM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Argh, stop stalking me! ;-)


2 posted on 09/12/2006 2:56:51 PM PDT by ahayes ("The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." -- Prov 28:1)
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Only if you've invited her into your household every time she starts mugging for the cameras and spewing her bile.

And I suspect that you are WAY smarter than THAT! ;)


3 posted on 09/12/2006 2:57:34 PM PDT by mkjessup (The Shah doesn't look so bad now, eh? But nooo, Jimmah said the Ayatollah was a 'godly' man.)
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran
From the article:

The demand end of the economic chain is the fact that women know (and their lawyers advise them) that making allegations of domestic violence (even without proof or evidence) is the fastest and cheapest way to win child custody plus generous financial support. The financial incentives to lie or exaggerate are powerful.

Due process violations in the issuing of TROs include lack of notice, no presumption of innocence, denial of poor defendants to free counsel while women are given taxpayer-funded support, denial of the right to take depositions, lack of evidentiary hearings, improper standard of proof, no need to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, denial of the right to confront accusers, and denial of trial by jury.

Dang, that is frightening. I'm glad my wife loves me.

4 posted on 09/12/2006 3:02:11 PM PDT by scan59 (No matter where you go, there you are.)
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To: scan59
"Dang, that is frightening. I'm glad my wife loves me"

That's not what she told me.....

Just kiddin.......

5 posted on 09/12/2006 3:12:49 PM PDT by nevergore (“It could be that the purpose of my life is simply to serve as a warning to others.”)
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To: elkfersupper

Feed us some elk


6 posted on 09/12/2006 3:17:05 PM PDT by The Red Zone
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Get a TRO against the person who tied her up, taped her eyes open, and turned on Letterman every day.

Or just don't watch.

Must be a liberal.


7 posted on 09/12/2006 3:21:08 PM PDT by CPOSharky (Methinks the demonrats doth protest too much.)
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To: The Red Zone
This is Santa Fe.

It's really California.

8 posted on 09/12/2006 3:28:47 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

That's it...I'm getting a restraining order against you!

lol


9 posted on 09/12/2006 3:28:48 PM PDT by JRios1968 (9-11, 5 years later...NEVER forget!)
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Hmmmm... Letterman has a restraining order in his record somewhere. Does this mean he couldn't get a license to carry if he were so inclined? Or does celebrity status trump problems like this, although it might not for you or me?


10 posted on 09/12/2006 3:55:11 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine (Is /sarc really needed?)
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To: JRios1968

Yes, and if I'm not mistaken if you have a domestic violence restraining order against you, you automatically become inelligable to own guns and to avoid being an insta-felon must sell or otherwise get rid of them.

Pretty cool, eh. (/sarcasm)


11 posted on 09/12/2006 3:55:58 PM PDT by Jack Black
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To: Jack Black

I'm getting a temporary restraining order against you, too!


12 posted on 09/12/2006 4:12:57 PM PDT by JRios1968 (9-11, 5 years later...NEVER forget!)
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To: JRios1968
That's it...I'm getting a restraining order against you!

A few years ago I purchased a long gun for a Christmas gift.

One of the questions was are you currently the subject of a Restraining Order? I don't remember if it specified Domestic Violence or not.

Missouri does have some laws on the books passed in the 1990's when such legislation was in vogue. One example was that past convictions for domestic violence could be used as evidence in a later case.

I do know that in divorce cases, the attorney for the wife will have a restraining order issued as a routine matter. No history or proof of any type of violence was needed to get it issued.

The clerk that sold me the gun said it had stopped a friend of his from deer hunting, during the time of a divorce.

Perhaps David Letterman can not buy a gun or carry a gun for hunting or other purposes due to the fact this restraining order has been issued.

I think that it is not just a Missouri thing but also happens in other states as well.

This may not be very funny to Letterman after all.

Experts, what say you ?

13 posted on 09/12/2006 4:26:52 PM PDT by TYVets (God so loved the world he didn't send a committee)
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To: Jack Black
Was this some that was done in the '90s at the federal level as part of The Clinton's Legacy?
14 posted on 09/12/2006 4:30:46 PM PDT by TYVets (God so loved the world he didn't send a committee)
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Maybe the order was issued so the nutcase woman would shut up and leave the police, the State's attorney and the judges alone.

It probably would have been easier just to tell her that if she sprinkled crushed garlic in front of her TV, Letterman's nefarious schemes could not penetrate her mind.


15 posted on 09/12/2006 4:40:46 PM PDT by lastchance (Hug your babies.)
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To: TYVets

You can thank Sens. Biden and Lautenberg for VAWA which pours billions$ into the "domestic violence industry".


16 posted on 09/12/2006 5:46:15 PM PDT by joeu (Chinese Translations and Interpreting)
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To: joeu
I know one man that spend $5,000 + clearing his record of unwarranted domestic violence arrests.

This was after his wife had him beat up and hospitalized for almost a week.

This was after his wife tried to knife him in front of half a dozen witnesses.

This was after the divorce.

He was lucky to be alive and able to clear his name.

The Legacy of the Clinton's (plural as in two)

17 posted on 09/12/2006 5:55:19 PM PDT by TYVets (God so loved the world he didn't send a committee)
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To: elkfersupper

Huh when did the capital of New Mexico secede to California?


18 posted on 09/15/2006 5:43:27 PM PDT by The Red Zone
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To: The Red Zone
Huh when did the capital of New Mexico secede to California?

Sensible people just envisioned deeding it over there.

19 posted on 09/15/2006 7:27:27 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: elkfersupper

It's the rarefied air there.


20 posted on 09/16/2006 3:18:47 PM PDT by The Red Zone
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