California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from BLADES V. GRAU, A126621, No. D0903904 (Cal. App. 2010):
The DVPA grants courts the authority to issue orders "to restrain any person for the purpose of preventing a recurrence of domestic violence...." (Fam. Code, 6300.) Courts have authority under the act to prevent physical acts such as assault or battery (Fam. Code, 6320, subd. (a)); but courts are not limited to preventing violent conduct. Courts are also granted the authority to prevent "annoying telephone calls as described in Section 653m of the Penal Code...." (Fam. Code, 6320, subd. (a).) Penal Code section 653m, subdivision (b), in turn, prohibits inter alia, "repeated contact by means of an electronic communication device...." The trial court is granted broad discretion to decide whether an injunction to prevent harassment is appropriate and its ruling will be reversed on appeal only where the court abused its discretion. (Gonzalez v. Munoz (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 413, 420.) We find no abuse here.
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