Syracuse Domestic Violence Court (DVC)
Criminal Courthouse
505 S. State Street, Room 130
Syracuse, NY 13202

Telephone: (315) 671-2807
Fax: (315) 671-4257
Email: mamonroe@courts.state.ny.us

Hon. Stephen J. Dougherty
Syracuse City Court

Associate Court Attorney
David A. Rothschild, Esq.

Resource Coordinator I
Melissa Monroe

Goals and Objectives

The DV Court seeks to ensure that misdemeanor domestic violence cases in the City of Syracuse arc treated in an efficient and consistent manner. In order to accomplish this overriding goal, the Court seeks to promote the following objectives:

• Safety for complainants, along with access to counseling and other social services, and access to information regarding court dispositions and conditions imposed on defendants;
• Enhanced accountability both for offenders and for agencies responsible for defendant programs, defendant monitoring and victim advocacy;
• Immediate, certain and consistent response to domestic violence crimes, such as requiring offenders to attend batterers’ intervention programs, or imposing sanctions, including jail time, when appropriate;
• Intensive monitoring and continuous judicial supervision of defendants’ compliance with orders of protection;
• Ongoing evaluation of the court process and effectiveness through monitoring of outcomes, partner feedback and victim contact; and
• Coordinated response by social service and criminal justice agencies and increased information sharing between the court and the community.

With these objectives in mind, the DV Court is sensitive to the rights of those accused, including the presumption of innocence and due process requirements. The Court, as always, takes precautions to ensure that the rights of all parties are protected.

Eligibility
DV Court accepts misdemeanor cases and violation level cases involving allegations of domestic violence between domestic partners (persons who have children in common, are living together or have lived together, or are in a dating relationship). DV Court also accepts domestic violence related class E felony cases. In order for cases to be accepted into the Court, it must be alleged that a defendant has caused actual physical or emotional injury, or created a substantial risk of physical or emotional harm to a domestic partner.