How protective is an order of protection? The short answer is: It depends.

How protective is an order of protection? The short answer is: It depends. "A personal protection order is merely a piece of paper," I explain to my clients. To be really safe, you need to take extra precautions.

Thanks to Paula Aylward, Michigan family law attorney, for calling to my attention a New York Times article: Case Revives Debate Over Protection Orders, published online on 2/26/2010. Alan Feuer writes:

While experts on domestic violence say orders of protection can clearly forestall harm — they point out that 87 percent of the victims of family-related killings last year in New York City did not have one — a piece of paper, even one bearing the imprimatur of a court, is certainly no guarantee of safety. This is especially true if the paper in question is delayed, ignored or never served.