Mapping Gender: Shedding Empirical Light on Family Courts’ Treatment of Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation   Joan S. Meier Sean Dickso...

[Read the rest of this article...]

 Recent article published by Pro Publica with quotes from DV LEAP's Legal Director, Joan Meier.  Click here to read the article now!

 Great article written by DV LEAP's Legal Director, Joan Meier, on Supreme Court case Elonis v. United States. Published in the Domestic Violence...

[Read the rest of this article...]

 Sexual Abuse Allegations by Barry Goldstein and DV LEAP's Consulting Attorney, Elizabeth Liu. From the Family & Intimate Partner Violence Q...

[Read the rest of this article...]

 Understanding the Pattern of Abuse by Barry Goldstein & DV LEAP's Consulting Attorney, Elizabeth Liu. From the Family & Intimate Partne...

[Read the rest of this article...]

Another media source using quotes from our Legal Director, Joan Meier, to emphasize the great ruling made by the Supreme Court. “An abused woman is s...

[Read the rest of this article...]

 Our Legal Director, Joan Meier, was recently quoted in an article by The Trace on the Supreme Courts recent decision to ban guns from convicted ...

[Read the rest of this article...]

 DV LEAP celebrates an important court victory this month in the matter of  SL v. JR, NY Court of Appeals, 2015 which established an importa...

[Read the rest of this article...]

 Click Here to view DV LEAP's Legal Director, Joan Meier's, most recent article published in the Journal of Child Custody!   

  Will the Supreme Court Let These Domestic Abusers Get Their Guns Back?   Unpacking the danger of convicted domestic abusers lobbyi...

[Read the rest of this article...]

  Click here to read DV LEAP's Legal Director's most recent piece published in the San Francisco Daily Journal!     Prosecuting C...

[Read the rest of this article...]

We are thrilled to share a major victory in the DC Court of Appeals concerning the rights of unrelated sexual assault victims to adequate civil protec...

[Read the rest of this article...]

  Alleged rapist pleads not guilty in face of mounting evidence http://www.houmatimes.com/news/article_5636a24c-8096-11e4-90de-bbafaf05b4a2.htm...

[Read the rest of this article...]

  Follow the link to read Joan's most recent article Is An Abused Child's Hearsay Admissible from the San Francisco Daily Journal.

‘Parental alienation’ is sometimes used in family court to wrest custody from a parent who alleges abuse January 24, 2014 6:30AM ET by T...

[Read the rest of this article...]

 The Huffington Post . June 26, 2014 Joan Meier pens her first op-ed for HuffPost: "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics." More

 Professor Joan Meier speaks to the failings of a new Iphone app called 'Good2Go'. The new app is meant to facilitate communication, reduce misun...

[Read the rest of this article...]

Click Here to Listen to Joan Meier's Interview with WMAL about Ray Rice Case!   Interview Date- 09/09/14 "INTERVIEW -- JOAN MEIER - Professor ...

[Read the rest of this article...]

Click here to read Rebecca Clay's article, Contested Custody: Inappropriate Assumptions are Common in Family Courts.

 Click here to read the new article in the Domestic Violence Report by Joan Meier and Nancy K.D. Lemon.

Click Here to watch "8 Reasons to Support DV LEAP"

The Hague Convention is widely seen as serving a noble goal – the return of “abducted” children to their loving parents left behind.  What is les...

[Read the rest of this article...]

 Supreme Court case dealing with strip searching.  Joan Meier argued that strip searching could be traumatic to former victims of domestic a...

[Read the rest of this article...]

The article discusses the difficulties D.C. Court's have in trying to enforce protective orders. 

In this article a recent controversial D.C. court of appeals opinion is discussed. 

In this article the idea of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is challenged.

[Read the rest of this article...]

 Article involves Jay Mariotti who is a well known ESPN personality and was arrested on charges of domestic violence.

 This article examines the importance of laws offering job protection for women who are leaving abusing relationships.

 Joan Meier was quoted in an article about the outcome of Abbott v. Abbott, a recent Supreme Court decision dealing with Ne Exeat under the Hague...

[Read the rest of this article...]

The article examines the reasons why family courts do not adequately address abuse allegations and how that leads to their ultimate failure to protect children in custody cases. 

[Read the rest of this article...]

 Joan Meier speaks out against including "Parental Alienation Syndrome" in the DSM-5.

[Read the rest of this article...]

  DV LEAP's founder and executive director, Professor Joan Meier, was recently notified that she will receive the Sunshine Peace Award wh...

[Read the rest of this article...]

The article, which examines the issue of private prosecutions in domestic violence cases, also quotes Executive Director Joan Meier.

[Read the rest of this article...]

DV LEAP's Executive Director Joan Meier was quoted in an Op-Ed piece penned by Eileen King from Justice for Children...

[Read the rest of this article...]

DV LEAP recently filed an appeal in a case in D.C. which is on the cutting-edge of the dominant issue in family courts - parental alienation.

[Read the rest of this article...]

DV LEAP's Executive Director Joan Meier recently attended the VAWA 10th Anniversary Gala as the guest of Vice President Joe Biden! 

The American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic Violence awarded Professor Joan Meier its inaugural Sharon Corbitt Award "honoring exemplary legal service to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking."

[Read the rest of this article...]

Ms. Meier was a lead commentator in PBS' documentary, Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories, which aired in Fall 2005.  Click here to vie...

[Read the rest of this article...]

To read the article, please click on the following link. http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3525

To read the letter to the editor, please click on the following link. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041103152...

[Read the rest of this article...]

To read the article, please click on the following link. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-scotus15-2008jun15,0,3136

To read the op-ed, please click on this link: http://ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?id=31168

DV LEAP's Executive Director Interviewed for 20/20 Program on Parental Alienation. To read or view this interview, please click here.

DV LEAP recently received a 2009 Washington Area Women's Foundation Leadership Award!

To read the opinion, please click here.

This case concerned a woman who was beaten viciously beaten by her boyfriend at a party at his house, after she got upset with him.  The trial court found the man guilty of assault and criminally convicted him, but the judge repeatedly blamed the woman for "provoking" the violence and "bringing it on herself." The court entered mutual civil protection orders-- one against each party.   DV LEAP co-counseled the amicus brief with a talented and dedicated team from Mintz Levin and placed the case with top-notch attorneys from Crowell & Moring. DV LEAP's amicus brief was essentially a primer on the reform purposes of the civl protection order statute, and how many courts re-victimize victims of domestic violence by blaming them for the violence. DV LEAP's brief ends by explaining that this kind of hostility to victims is common, and asked the D.C. Court of Appeals to "send a message to the lower courts that civil protection orders should further protection of victims and accountability of perpetrators for unlawful violence."  On July 3, 2008, the D.C. Court of Appeals issued a powerful decision that sends exactly this kind of message to the lower courts.

[Read the rest of this article...]

Ms. Meier was honored by Justice for Children on December 11th, 2007 for DV LEAP's work on behalf of battered women and their children.

 Throughout the country, battered mothers and children have been subjected to unjust court processes that have violated their most basic due proc...

[Read the rest of this article...]

DV LEAP represented a mother that a court had previously found had been subjected to a pattern of severe domestic violence.  After the divorce, h...

[Read the rest of this article...]

DV LEAP was selected through a highly competitive process for inclusion in the Washington area Catalogue for Philanthropy (2006-2007).