Steve Palmer: The questions are pouring in like wildfire on Lawyertalk

>> Steve Palmer: All right, Lawyer Talk, off the record, on the air, another q and a. The questions are pouring in like wildfire. So it's funny, uh, and frankly, I don't know what the right word, flattered, maybe the right word, I don't know what the right word is. But anyway, Steve Palmer here at Lawyer Talk, uh, I am happy that people are listening. I'm happy that people care. I'm happy that people are sending questions to lawyertalkpodcast.com where you can, uh, send a question. What I try to do in this q and a series, that's question and answer for those who didn't know, uh, whatever I try to do, what I try to do in these is sort of give folks an answer to their question, not legal advice, but rather legal commentary. And, you know, I know it's uh, it can be intimidating to call law firms, it can be intimidating to call a lawyer, or you don't even know what to ask or you think you're going to feel none of that here. You just, you send me a question, I'll do my best to give you some commentary on it. Um, it's not legal advice, but uh, I think it's helpful and I think it's interesting. I listen to various podcasts myself, and some of the ones that draw me in are the ones that involve questions on various topics and Answers, whether it's construction or whether it's finance or whatever it would be. Because I think we all sort of like the idea. It's like real people and we all are real people and we can share, uh, in each other's misery, if that's the right way to put it.

Jill asks question about civil protection orders for neighbors in Ohio

But at any rate, we've got a question from Jill, and this involves civil protection orders here in Ohio. So I. Alright, so it's Ohio specific. But guess what? I'm a lawyer in Ohio, so I get these kind of questions and, you know, civil protection orders, I see them more and more and I had to give some thought as to why. Um, and I don't know, uh, maybe it's sort of like in Ghostbusters, back in the original series or the original movie. There was this time when all of a sudden all the tensions in New York City were so, or whatever that was. Philadelphia, I guess. I don't remember what city it was, but all the tensions were high. It's like everybody hated each other. There was so much negative emotion. And then, uh, you know, we had to have the stay puft marshmallow man come in. Anyway, you get it. But I think it's just, it's a hard time, it's an emotional time in our, in our culture right now. So I'm seeing a lot of this. And, um, the question here from Jill is, can, uh, I get a civil protection order or a stay away order against my neighbor? And, you know, think about that for a second. So, you know, there are various types of civil protection orders, and the one we're talking about, I think specifically would be called an anti stalking or a civil stalking protection order here in Ohio, which basically means that if somebody is, um, causing you so much grief and alarm through a pattern of conduct, that it's the kind of behavior, uh, that you got the kind of stress that you would almost have to go get psychological, ah, treatment for. You don't have to get treatment, but that's sort of the burden. It's like it's causing you so much stress. There's a pattern of conduct that it's the type of which that could result in some sort of treatment. Um, so think PTSD or think, um, uh, anxiety, depression, those kind of things. And, you know, imagine a scenario where you have this with your neighbors, and we get this all the Time, the problem with this, the problem with this. So it's not like a boyfriend or an ex girlfriend or an ex boyfriend that you're not going to see again, and you don't ever want to have contact with. You've got to drive home, go up your driveway every single day and look at your neighbor's house and say, uh, I want an order that says, this person can't have any contact with me. It's virtually impossible. It's virtually impossible to prevent any contact because you live next to him or next to this individual. And I guess what the courts are not going to tell you or tell your neighbor, rather, that they have to move, um, your neighbor, you know, they're not going to force your neighbors to sell their house just because you're having a neighborhood squabble. Now, I'm talking about an anti stalking civil protection order. There's another kind where somebody has threatened you imminently with physical harm. So that's a different type of order and requires a different standard of proof, but it's got to be imminent. Meaning, yeah, he threatened me last week or last year, um, and said these things to me and said he's going to kick my backside. While last year, it's not imminent, uh, even if it was a threat of serious physical harm. So anyway, going forward here, when I talk to neighbors looking for anti stalking protection orders, I often tell them. And I've had a hearing recently on this where I stood up in court and I said, folks, I said, judge, if I may, these people have to live next to each other. They have to live next to each other, in theory, for the next 10, 15, 20 years. And our house is our home, and we bought these houses on mortgages. Mortgage means the gauge of our death. You're going to have this for life. Um, maybe there's a way we can just sort of step into a side room, get some mediation, do something, uh, rather than go to a hearing here. Because, judge, I don't believe that the person seeking this order, uh, has sufficient evidence. And the reason I said that is because here's what the law is, and I'll quote, notably, a protection order is not appropriate merely because neighbors share unfriendly or untenable relationships. In cases involving neighbors, noise, profanity, claims of vandalism to property do not always warrant injunctive relief under the stalking and repeat violence statutes. Um, an injunction is not designed to keep the peace between the parties who, for whatever reason, are unable to get along and behave civilly toward each other. Um, so, look, and I guess I'll go one more. And this is my sticks and stones argument. Name calling, snide remarks, dirty looks and perhaps some rude gestures, uh, without threats of physical harm, uh, do not justify menacing by stalking finding or the issuance of a civil stalking protection order. So, look, if you're, if your neighbor's just an asshole, uh, and calls you the dirtiest of the dirty names, think like c Word or, you know, how, how offensive could it be? Or even racial, um, names. It doesn't always and necessarily m, in fact, most of the Time, it's not going to be enough to get a civil stalking protecting protection order. So, uh, sometimes it is. I'm not going to preclude it forever, but, uh, it's typically not enough. So how do I know all this? Well, because I practice law here in Ohio. Steve Palmer at Palmer legal defense, right upstairs. Um, truth be told, I'd much rather spend all my time right here in channel 511, studio c, uh, cranking out content. But I do have a law practice upstairs and I handle these cases routinely. Typically, I do criminal defense, but this is sort of like criminal defense. So I obviously have that kind of problem. Check out palmerlegaldefense.com dot. I can help you with it. Um, and if you've got another, if you've got your own question, you're thinking, man, I just don't feel like calling a law firm. It's scary. They're going to bill me. Do I have to give them a credit card to even make the call? Uh, and you don't know what to. You don't have any other place to go. And even if you do have other places to go, frankly, uh, check us out. Lawyertalkpodcast.com dot. There's an easy interface. You can just submit your own question, just like jill did here today, and I will give you some commentary on it. I can't solve all the world's problems, but I can at least, uh, maybe give you some insight and entertain the rest of the millions of Lawyer Talk listeners who come in every single day, every single week, where we are off the record, but on the air, at least until now.