Publications

With the establishment of the Hennepin County domestic violence court in November 2000, Hennepin County made a significant step towards acknowledging the importance of effectively prosecuting domestic violence crimes at the misdemeanor level. This specialized court was created to handle domestic violence crimes, including assaults, violations of orders for protection, interference with 911 calls, violations of conditions of release, and probation revocations.

One year later, in November 2001, WATCH published its first domestic violence court report, Judicial Demeanor and Response in Domestic Violence Court. The 2001 report highlighted a variety of themes and patterns of inconsistency within the new court and offered recommendations for improvement. In this report, five years later, WATCH revisits those recommendations and takes a closer look at how the domestic violence court is handling misdemeanor domestic abuse cases today.