| | NY Crime Victims Legal Network | | August 2024 | A bi-monthly newsletter for CVLN partners highlighting updates and developments | | | | | | - Supreme Court upholds law barring domestic abusers from possessing guns: In June, the US Supreme Court ruled in US v Rahimi that the federal statute prohibiting individuals subject to valid domestic violence protection order from possessing firearms is constitutional. For a case analysis, please go to SCOTUSblog.
- DV RISC Podcasts: Domestic Violence Resource for Increasing Safety and Connection (DV RISC), a national resource center that works with communities to implement risk assessment models to reduce and prevent intimate partner homicides, recently launched a new podcast series. The series discusses the use of intimate partner violence risk assessments in different settings by diverse professionals. Go to DVRISC.org and scroll down to “Featured Content” to find the podcasts.
- Tools to help victims of domestic abuse and stalking: Users of Android devices 6.0+ and Apple 17.5 will be able to receive proactive location tracking alerts letting them know that their location-enabled devices may be monitored by someone else. For more information, read this SafetyNet blog or the Apple Support section on “unwanted tracking” or this blog on unknown tracking alerts on Android.
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Tips to reduce the risk of AI being used against you: Listen to SafetyNet’s Tech Talk on Demystifying AI to learn about the risks AI poses to domestic violence and other survivors, and what you can do to mitigate these risks. Tips include making your profile visible to only your friends, and leveraging opt-out features when interacting with chatbots. -
Lawyer Assistance Program: A landmark 2016 study by the American Bar Association showed that 20% of legal professionals have “problematic drinking” habits (compared to 12% of their professional peers), and 28% reported experiencing “mild or higher levels of depression.” In a 2023 study, 66% of respondents said that their time in the legal profession had been detrimental to their mental health, and 46% of them said they were considering leaving the profession due to stress or burnout. According to the study, lawyers are twice as likely as other US adults to contemplate suicide. Please know that in addition to the 988 Crisis Lifeline, lawyers, judges, or law students dealing with substance use or mental health issue can contact the 24/7 Lawyer’s Assistance Program confidential hotline at 877-772-8835. Learn more at the NYSBA website. -
CVLN Forums for OVS-funded Attorneys and Paralegals: The next forum will be held on 9/4/24 from 1:00pm-2:15pm. Staff from the NYS Office of Victim Services will provide information on trends, an update on claims, and answer relevant questions. For more information, please contact Regional Attorney Coordinator, Laura Dwyer, LDwyer@empirejustice.org. | | | | Courts cannot delegate the authority to determine the non-custodial parent’s parenting time to the custodial parent Recent cases from the Third Department remind us that courts cannot issue an order that grants custodial parent sole discretion to determine the parameters of the non-custodial parent’s parenting time. In Laura E. v. John D., 216 AD 3d 1274 (2023), Family Court, after a fact-finding hearing, granted mother sole legal and primary physical custody. | | | | Father was granted parenting time as parties mutually agree, with mother retaining discretion over whether such parenting time required supervision. Although the Appellate Court found that the lower court appropriately focused its inquiry on the best interest of the child in determining the custodial award, it found that “in making the father’s parenting time contingent on the mother’s agreement, Family Court improperly delegated its authority to the mother to determine what, if any, parenting time the father should have.” The Appellate Court stated that if the parenting time is not detrimental to the child's best interest, then the court should consider: - The type of parenting time warranted (such as therapeutic visitation, supervised or unsupervised visitation),
- The amount, during, and location of parenting time (such as a graduated schedule, overnight visitation, etc.), and
- Any other provision that would develop or promote a healthy and meaningful relationship between non-custodial parent and child (such as phone/video contact, written communications, etc.).
The Third Department addressed this issue again in June in the Matter of Theressa M. v. Gaddiel, 2024 NY Slip Op.03115. In this case, Family Court granted the parties joint legal custody with mother having primary physical custody and final decision-making authority. The court also granted mother sole discretion to determine the parenting time father could have, specifically providing that father “shall have parenting time with the children at such times and places and under such conditions determined by the mother.” Similar to Laura E., the Appellate Court found that the lower court inappropriately delegated its authority to determine parenting time and failed to structure a schedule granting the noncustodial parent regular access. (See also Matter of Jessica HH v. Sean HH.) | | | | | | | | Language Access Saves Lives: Advancing Language Access Rights on Long Island for Immigrant Crime Victims and Survivors It is essential that we ensure that our clients receive timely and meaningful access to all programs and services, regardless of English proficiency. Whether dealing with the courts, police or Social Services. Read a blog post from Cheryl Keshner, Empire Justice Center’s Senior Paralegal/ Community Advocate, and learn about some of the challenges facing immigrant Long Islanders and ongoing advocacy efforts and achievements by the Long Island Language Advocates Coalition, which she coordinates. Read more at the button below! | | | | | | | | | | If a visitor to NY Crime Victims Legal Help is having trouble finding the legal information that they need, they can use LiveHelp! With just a click on the chat button in the bottom right of our website, a LiveHelp Agent will be available to chat and help find information! LiveHelp Agents are volunteers or staff members of LawHelpNY and its partner organizations who have been trained to help find information on the NY Crime Victims Legal Help, LawHelpNY.org and New York court websites. Our LiveHelp is available Monday to Thursday 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Check out the graph to see our LiveHelp usage increase over the past three quarters! | | | | | | In addition to the technical assistance webinars that the members of the CVLN Team at Empire Justice Center organize and host, they conduct presentations about the resources on the NY Crime Victims Legal Help website. So far, they have provided information about CVLN’s website six times this year to people such as the residents of a Domestic Violence Shelter, a university’s Title IX program staff, and staff at an Emergency Department Forensic Unit. Please contact Jackie Segouin at JSegouin@empirejustice.org for a presentation. We’d be happy to provide information about the resources on NY Crime Victims Legal Help, including the Victim Compensation Claim Navigator and Guide, to you, your program, your regional coalition, your block club, your book club, or to any entity whose clients or staff may not know about CVLN or want to learn more. | | | Organization Spotlight: Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. | | | | | | | | | | What does your organization do/what is your mission? Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. seeks equitable justice by providing access to legal advice, representation, and education to those in our community who, due to financial vulnerability, disability, discrimination, or abuse, require protection and advancement of their civil legal rights. We provide a full range of free civil legal representation to low income and disabled people residing in Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming Counties, in matters involving their financial security and the legal rights which affect the stability of families and individuals. Our goal is to create the greatest access to the justice system for those low-income and disabled people without the means to pursue their rights. Our mission also includes providing outreach and training services to underprivileged populations and the community agencies which serve them. | | What counties or regions does your organization serve? We serve 5 counties in Western New York – Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming. Erie County: (716) 847-0650 Niagara County: (716) 201-0046 Wyoming, Genesee and Orleans Counties: (585) 343-5450 How does your organization help victims of crime? We help victims of crime with their civil legal needs. Along with assisting them with physical safety needs through family/IDV courts, we address other basic necessities of life like housing, public benefits, health insurance, disability advocacy to name a few. We try our best to provide holistic services in a trauma informed manner to our clients with issue spotting at initial intake and necessary internal referrals to help with all civil legal needs of the client. In the event that client’s needs cannot be met effectively within our agency, we provide them with referrals to other agencies in the community. What other services does your organization offer? Neighborhood Legal Services provide the following services: Housing Unit – Eviction defense, lockouts, housing discrimination, Unsafe living conditions/Habitability issues, Tenants experiencing domestic violence, Landlord not returning security deposit, tenants prevented from having ESA. Public Benefits – SNAP benefits, TA, DSS Fair Hearings, Emergency housing, intervention and advocacy with problems dealing with DSS. Disability Unit – Medicaid/Medicare, Denial of Health Services, Medical debt, SSDI-SSI work incentives, SSDI-SSI appeals Family Unit – Divorce, Custody/Visitation, Child Support, Spousal Support, Family Offense Petition, representation in IDV Court Medical Legal Partnership – Family, housing, public benefits, disability, Name Changes, Estate Planning (Will, Power of Attorney, Healthcare proxy), Employment discrimination (limited basis) Justice Bus - The Justice Bus Program is a mobile office that provides legal services to Western New Yorkers at no cost. The Justice Bus brings life changing legal help to those in need by making its way through Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties with pro bono attorneys, law students, and attorneys from Neighborhood Legal Services. Does Neighborhood Legal Services have any open job positions? Yes, job postings can be found HERE! Does your organization have any upcoming events? Free Legal Assistance with Neighborhood Legal Services occurs every 1st and 3rd Friday 10 am – 3pm at 500 Wheatfield Street DMV Building for information on housing, public benefits, healthcare and more. For additional questions, please email JusticeBus@nls.org. | | | | | | What do you give the dentist of the year? A little plaque. What do you call a cheese that isn’t yours? Nacho cheese! | | | | | | Want to learn more about NY Crime Victims Legal Network? Contact us today! | | | | | Are you funded by the NYS Office of Victim Services? Join the Advocate Gateway! | | | | | |  NY Crime Victims Legal Network | | | | | | | | Empire Justice Center
1 W Main Street, Suite 200, Rochester, NY 14614
585-454-4060 | info@empirejustice.org | | | | | | | |
