Sep 21, 2023

Domestic violence law in Florida is not just one law, but several laws that operate together. Thus, it is more accurate to think and speak in terms of Florida’s Domestic Violence Laws. The reason is very simple: Florida’s legal system creates many different types of domestic abuse that constitute a violation of the criminal law.

One of the most significant problems with the entire statutory structure is the absence of even recognizing false allegations. Sure, Florida has a section prohibiting the filing of a false police report. Yet, the penalty is a misdemeanor – unless the victim of a false allegation is in a special protected class, such as law enforcement officers. Worse, these types of offenses are almost never prosecuted and when they are, they receive scant publicity compared to the publicity an alleged abuser receives.

FALSE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGE AWARENESS MONTH

June is False Domestic Violence Charge Awareness Month in Florida. Each year, thousands of lives are damaged by false domestic violence charges. Why do people – men and women – file false domestic violence charges? Several reasons:

  • To gain leverage in a divorce action
  • To protect themselves when the police are called and they are afraid of prosecution if they don’t make a false accusation
  • mental illness, use of drugs or alcohol can cause false beliefs – and false memories of what actually transpired
  • To win a lawsuit, often without even filing one – gaining hush money
  • To get ‘payback’ for a slight, real or perceived
  • Simply because someone is angry
  • To win an argument in a very dramatic and public fashion
  • To join the ‘brotherhood and sisterhood of victimhood’ – being a ‘victim’ gains a special status, a place of honor for their ‘suffering.’

A Domestic Violence charge is far too serious to be trivialized by false allegations, which are rarely prosecuted on the flimsy ground that prosecuting false accusers would deter real victims.

Real victims are people who have truly been victimized by the wrongful, violent conduct of another person – including victims of Domestic Legal Violence: The use of Law Enforcement Officers to physically force someone into jail and force them to be prosecuted and threatened with further imprisonment for a crime they did not commit.

So each June is False Domestic Violence Charge Awareness Month.