PPOs are sometimes necessary

We don't love Personal Protection Orders (PPOs) at Gordon & Shaw because they are sometimes used as a sword to separate a man from his children or house without any hearing based upon one-sided false or embellished allegations. However, they have their place. Take for example the case of Samuel Cordaryl Clark, age 24. Mr. Clark died when his ex-girlfriend chased his car down 28th Street at 100 miles per hour. At this point we don't know if his ex-girlfriend had done anything like this before but it is obvious that he did not want to be confronted by her. Had he had a PPO and drove to the police station, his ex-girl friend would have gone to jail and he may have lived. Some men need a PPO but are skeptical that they will not be taken seriously by the court or believe that they can take care of themselves. Men are right to be skeptical of the court but that should not stop them. We have had clients obtain PPOs. Preparation is key. What worries us more is the men that believe they can take care of themselves, because they tend to get themselves in trouble. Believe me, there are men in Grand Rapids that have a domestic abuse convictions on their record even though they were only acting in self defense. If a man feels threatened he must get the court’s help. For more on Mr. Clark see http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/10/woman_who_alledgedly_chased_bo.html#incart_mrt