For example, rather than having police attempt to resolve a domestic violence issue on the scene, with the victim having to be in critical physical distress before an arrest was made, there is now mandatory arrest for the primary perpetrator of any domestic violence. The issue is not ignored. District attorneys throughout the state have Special Victims Units that deal with domestic violence cases. There are shelters for victims of domestic violence and their children, and non-lawyer advocates to assist with the initial court process necessary to secure an order of protection. No longer does the victim have to choose whether to pursue a case in civil or criminal court.
Relief is available in both.
An order of protection may also be obtained as part of a divorce proceeding. In short, domestic violence is now viewed as a crime, a far cry from how it was viewed, if it was viewed at all, in the 1950s. At one time cases concerning abused, neglected, abandoned and delinquent children were heard in the same civil and criminal courts as were the cases of adults. By the 1920s, a variety of separate courts, with jurisdiction organized on a county basis, had emerged. Family Court was constitutionally created as a statewide court.