Cost of economic downturn shows itself in domestic court

[babylonsister]

Family law cases spilling over into Stanislaus County Superior Courts
Recession feeding family distress
By Merrill Balassone


Court workers call the Modesto law enforcement officer "a sweetheart," even as he transformed into a man who became explosively angry and punched through walls in his house.

He was losing his wife. He already lost his house and his overtime pay.

"All I've ever done is work for my family," he told a court mediator, his anguish and frustration growing. "That's what men do."

Officials say anger over the economic meltdown and its impact on families is spilling through the doors of the Stanislaus County Courthouse in downtown Modesto.

As economic conditions have worsened, more parents are fighting over custody of their children and there are more reports of domestic battery from homes where there was no pattern of it before, court officials said. Numbers from the Stanislaus County Superior Court illustrate the extent of the problem:

Applications for domestic violence restraining orders have jumped from 1,498 to 1,938, an increase of 29 percent over the past five years.

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