In this article, we answer the questions, “what happens if a victim invites a violation of a protective order in Illinois?” and “can the protected party violate an order of protection?” For an overview of how orders of protection work in Illinois, check out our article: Illinois Orders of Protection Explained.
A reader asked the following question: My son's ex put a no contact order on him, but she kept calling and texting and he answered. Now he has a warrant and is in jail. Can she get in trouble for calling and texting him?
The answer is that the protected party cannot be criminally prosecuted for inviting a violation of a protective order. Further, an invitation by the protected party to violate the order does not excuse the violation by the other party.
Courts that have addressed this issue have stated that contact or invitations for contact initiated by the protected person are irrelevant to and do not excuse violation of a protective order by the person against whom the order has been entered. In coming to this conclusion, courts have sought to remove excuses of invitation, perceived invitation, or concocted invitation from diminishing the power of orders of protection.
Courts have found that protected parties cannot be held liable for violation of the order that is intended to protect them. Courts have reasoned that if victims could be held liable for violation of a protective order, this would cause some violations of protective orders to go unreported based on the threat of prosecution of the victim. Courts have found that protective orders deal with the behavior of the party the order was entered against, and not the behavior of the victim.
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