We understand and respect the need to address this problem. However, personal information about mail box holders should not be released without a warrant. We are very concerned about the dissemination of addresses, even to law enforcement personnel, without the proper checks and balances offered by the requirement of judicial involvement. If the information is needed as part of an official investigation, a warrant should not be difficult to obtain and would provide an important added protection for battered women. A similar concern exists for battered women's shelters.
Shelters house many victims of domestic violence at one time.
Putting one woman in danger puts all the shelter residents in danger, including their children. Disclosure of the shelter location can be especially critical to these families' lives. The threat is so great that many shelters do not publish their addresses in any way, often withholding addresses even from other domestic violence service providers. For this reason, shelters will commonly use a post office box or a private mail box for receipt of mail. Once this information has been turned over to these agencies, there is nothing to prevent the information from being further disclosed to others or included in documents available to the public.