| What Protection Do I Have Under Maine Law? |
If someone is harassing you and you cannot get that person to stop, there
is a Maine law that may help you. It is called the "Protection from
Harassment" law.
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This law applies in any of these situations:
- You (or your family or business) has been intimidated, confronted, or
threatened with physical force three or more times by the same person,
and you were afraid, intimidated or suffered damage to your property as
a result.
- Free exercise of your Constitutional rights have been threatened by the
same person three or more times.
- Your harasser has committed one of several serious criminal acts against
you, such as criminal assault, terrorizing, gross sexual assault, criminal
restraint, arson, stalking, or violation of privacy (as defined by the
Maine criminal code).
If you are being abused by a spouse, former spouse, partner or former
partner, you can get protection under a different law. That law is called
the "Protection from Abuse" statute. You can look at our
Protection
From Abuse pamphlet,
call your local Pine Tree office, or get information from any District Court
Clerk.
If you are being harassed because of your race, color, religion, sex,
ancestry, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation, you can contact the
Maine Attorney General's
office at 626-8800 ext.4 to make a complaint under the Maine Civil Rights
Act. If they cannot help you, you can still bring a Protection from
Harassment complaint.
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| How And Where Do I File A Complaint? |
Before filing a court complaint, you must first report the harassment to a
law enforcement agency in your area. For example, report the harassment to
your local police or sheriff's department. You will need evidence that you
have done this when you file your court complaint. So ask the officer to
give you some sort of written statement that you made the report.
If this doesn't settle the problem, you can file a court complaint with the
Maine
District Court where you live or where the defendant (the person harassing
you) lives. If you had to leave home to escape the harassment, you can go
to the court where you are now. If your District Court judge is not available
and you need an immediate "temporary order," you
can go to any other District Court or to a Superior Court judge. The courts
of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation also hear Protection from
Harassment cases.
The Court Clerk's Office has Complaint forms. Tell the clerk that you want
to file for Protection from Harassment and ask for the forms. The clerk
must help you but cannot give you legal advice or fill out the forms for
you. Or you can get
the form on-line.
When filling out your Complaint, write down the facts of your case in story
form, giving specific details about what has happened. Unless the harassment
was also a criminal act, the Complaint must show that the defendant has harassed
you at least three times.
The clerk may also ask you to fill out a Protection Order Service Information
form. The sheriff's office uses this information to find the other
party, to give him a copy of the Complaint.
Get the on-line form.
After you have completed the forms, give them back to the clerk for "filing."
The clerk will charge you a filing fee.
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| What If I Can't Afford The Filing Fee? |
If you cannot afford the fee, the Court may let you file for free. To apply
for a fee waiver, you must complete two more forms: an Application to
Proceed Without Payment of Fees and an Indigency Affidavit.
Again, get these two forms from the clerk or from our
on-line
forms page. (Find Form Form #CV-067 and Form #CR-032 together, near the middle of
the forms lists.) Fill them out and file them with the other papers. The
clerk will "notarize" your signatures on the Affidavit form and
on the Complaint form. The judge will read your Affidavit and decide whether
you will have to pay the filing fee. (If you need more help with filling
out these forms, go to our page on Court
Fee Waivers.)
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| What If I Don't Want The Defendant To Find Out Where I Am Staying? |
Where the Complaint form asks for your name and address, write your name
only. Then ask the clerk for an Affidavit for Confidential Address form,
or get our on-line form.
State in the affidavit why you think this information must be kept private, for
the safety of you or your children. Give your affidavit to the clerk along with your
other papers. The clerk will then "seal" this information, so
that the other party can't get it. If the other party objects to this in
writing, the Court could hold a hearing to decide whether the clerk must
still keep the information secret.
Let the clerk know if your address changes before your case is done.
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| What Happens After I File The Complaint? |
The clerk will schedule a date and time for a hearing. In the meantime, you
must have the Summons and Complaint "served" on the defendant. The
hearing cannot be held until the defendant has been served.
To have the defendant "served," take a copy of the Complaint
and the original and one copy of the Summons to the Sheriff's Department.
There will be a fee for service unless the judge has granted your Application
to Proceed Without Payment of Fees. If the fee has not been waived,
the service cost will include a basic fee plus mileage. The typical total
cost is between $15 and $30.
If the judge has waived fees, the Court will pay the service fee.
Ask the Clerk's Office if they will send the papers to the sheriff's department
for service. If you have to arrange for service yourself, take a copy of
the fee waiver order with you to show the Sheriff's Office that you should
not be billed for the service fee.
The hearing will not be held until the "Return of Service" on
the back of the original Summons is filled out and filed with the Court
to prove that the defendant has been served. Once the defendant has been
served, you need to get the completed Summons back from the Sheriff's Office.
File it in the Clerk's Office immediately.
If the clerk has sent the papers out for service, check with the Clerk's
Office before the hearing to find out if the Sheriff's Office has sent the
"Return of Service" (Summons) back to the Court. (If you are still
waiting for service on the hearing date, ask for a new hearing date. This
will give you some more time to get the Complaint and Summons served.)
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| What If I Need Emergency Protection Before The Hearing Date? |
Ask the court to issue a "Temporary Order" on the day you file
the Complaint. Just fill out the section on the back of the Complaint called
"Motion for Temporary Order."
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| What Do I Need To Show To Get An Immediate Temporary Order? |
You need to show that you (or your family or employees) are "in immediate
and present danger of physical abuse or ... extreme emotional distress"
because of what the defendant has done to you or that your business property
is in "immediate and present danger of suffering substantial damage."
Be sure to write down all the facts that show your immediate and present
danger when filling out your Motion.
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| Do I Need To Serve The Defendant Before I Get A Temporary Order? |
No. However, the judge may require you to make a good faith effort to tell
the defendant that you are asking for an immediate order. If the judge
thinks that prior notice to the defendant is not reasonable, he will waive
the usual notice requirement. The judge will make this decision based
on how dangerous the situation seems to be and how hard it is to reach the
defendant.
If the judge issues a Temporary Order, the Court will have the Order, Summons
and Complaint served on the defendant, instead of requiring you to have
the papers served.
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The judge may hold a "case management conference" to:
- identify witnesses and exhibits,
- explore settlement options, and
- enter a pre-trial order about hearing conduct and scheduling
The judge may also require you to try mediation, or some other out-of
court process, to see if you can settle your issues without a full court hearing.
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| What Happens At The Final Hearing? |
One of two things can happen. First, you and the defendant can agree
to ask for a specific court order. This
is called a "consent agreement." When all parties agree to the
terms of an order, the judge will usually approve your agreement and make
it into a court order.
Second, if you cannot agree to an order, the court will hold a
hearing, following formal rules of evidence and procedure. At the hearing, you
must explain to the judge, under oath, exactly what
has happened. Tell when each event happened to the best of your memory,
what the defendant did and said, what emotions he was displaying, and how
you felt and responded. You can also bring witnesses who saw or heard the
harassment.
The judge will listen to your story and to the defendant's story and then
make a decision. If the defendant does not appear, some judges will still
ask you to tell your story briefly under oath.
If the judge finds that you have proven "harassment", as defined
by the statute, she will give an order. An order entered after hearing,
or after approval of a consent agreement, can include any or all of the
following terms:
- The defendant is prohibited from harassing, threatening, assaulting,
molesting, attacking, or otherwise abusing you or your employees.
- The defendant is prohibited from going on your property or residence.
Note: This cannot be used to evict a tenant.
- The defendant is restrained from interfering with or destroying your
property.
- The defendant is restrained from following you repeatedly and without
reasonable cause.
- The defendant is restrained from, repeatedly and without reasonable cause,
being at or near your home, school, business or place of employment.
- The defendant is restrained from contacting you directly or indirectly.
- The defendant may be ordered to pay you money to compensate for losses
suffered as a direct result of the harassment.
- The defendant may be ordered to pay court costs or reasonable attorney's
fees.
- Any other orders that the judge thinks are "necessary or appropriate."
If there is something you need that is not on the above list, ask the judge
to put it in the order. For example, if the defendant has a key to your
house or car, you can ask that it be returned to you. You can also tell
the judge how long you want the order to last. An order can last for up
to one year.
If the judge finds that there has been no "harassment," as defined
by the law, then your Complaint will be dismissed. However, the judge
can order you to pay court costs or reasonable attorney's fees if she thinks it is appropriate.
If the defendant comes to the hearing and an order is issued, then he should
be served with the order by a deputy sheriff at the courthouse. If he does
not come to the hearing, then he will still have to be served with the order
by a law enforcement officer before it will take effect.
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| Can I Appeal The Judge's Decision If I Disagree With It? |
Maine law provides an appeal procedure. However, the only grounds for appeal
are for "error of law or abuse of discretion." In other words,
it is not likely that you could win an appeal because you disagree with
the judge's findings of fact. Appeals are difficult to complete without
the help of an attorney. The appeal deadline is 21 days from the
date of the decision.
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| What If The Defendant Violates An Order? |
If you are harassed by the defendant after an order has been issued and
served on the defendant, call the police. Violation of any terms
of your order, other than terms that the defendant must pay money, is a
Class D crime. A Class D crime carries a maximum jail sentence of less than
one year and maximum fine of $2000. If the defendant is charged with a crime,
talk to the victim advocate in your district attorney's office if you have questions. The
advocate can tell you what is going on with your charges and answer your
questions about the criminal court process.
If the defendant doesn't pay you the money he or she has been ordered to
pay, you may bring an action for contempt.
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| Is There Anything Else I Can Do To Protect Myself? |
Yes. Consider taking some self-help steps. For example, get an unlisted
telephone number, change the locks on the doors of your home (check with
your landlord first if you are renting), tell your employer that you don't
want calls or contacts at work, or move to an unknown address.
Whenever you are seriously harassed or threatened, you can call the police.
There is a separate Maine law that says: "A person is guilty of harassment
if, without reasonable cause, that person engages in any course of conduct
with the intent to harass, torment or threaten another person, after
having been forbidden to do so by any sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable,
police officer or justice of the peace or by the court in a protective
order...."
Any violation of this law is a Class E crime. Class E crimes carry a maximum
jail sentence of 6 months and a maximum fine of $1000. Therefore, a person
may be charged with a Class E crime for harassing you after a police officer
has told him to stop the harassment.
A third conviction under this statute for harassment of you or your immediate
family members is treated as a Class C crime. Class C crimes carry a maximum
jail sentence of 5 years and a maximum fine of $5000. Convictions for violations
of court-issued Protection from Harassment orders and Protection from Abuse
orders also count as prior offenses.
