Harassment through use of a restraining order?

[kestrel]

I know it's long, but PLEASE either read to whole thing or don't answer. Thanks!

My mom left our home 19 months ago and got a restraining order against my dad. I won't go into detail about how because the story is long and boring, but I'm just going to state sincerely that my dad is not dangerous and never has been. And my mom DID lie to get the restraining order.

Before I say anything, I'm going to put it out there that my mom told me she's not really afraid of my dad through a Yahoo Messenger call. This goes to show that everything I'm about to mention was done in an effort to antagonize us, not out of fear.

Since she got the restraining order she has sent the cops to our house because:
- He passed her on the road twice in an hour, said he was stalking her
- He talked to her friends, said it was third party violation
- I said hi to her from the passenger seat of our truck as we were leaving the grocery store parking lot, again with the third party violation

Now let me throw some things out there that show why these are stupid reasons to send to cops to come beat down our door:
- We live in a small town. It's about 10 minutes from one end to the other in any direction. Of course we're going to pass each other on the road.
- Those friends used to be his friends too. Plus he never said "tell her that..." or anything along those lines. His purpose was not to communicate with her. Her friends are the ones who decided to pass what he said to her. Just some stupid rant about how she left for another man (and she did).
- I don't even have to say anything for this one. It's just stupid. I wanted to say hi to my mom. What's wrong with that?

I also have countless texts, Facebook messages, and emails from her that contain threats involving the restraining order. Whenever she would be bad-mouthing my dad and I spoke in his defense, she would threaten to call the cops over third party violation. I also have tons of screenshots from her Facebook profile that show plain as day that her intent is to get my dad thrown in jail. Just statuses bragging to her friends about how he's going to go to jail over and over and over again.

She also put a warrant on him with a misdemeanor charge for violation of a protective order, and we received absolutely NO notification until 6 months later.

I'm just wondering... Is this considered harassment? Because I sure feel harassed! I have nightmares of my dad being hauled off to prison all the time, and I'm starting to feel like it really isn't necessary to be living like this.
Montana.

[Richard]

There is no crime of nor cause of action for "harassment" in the state of Montana. However, if what you are saying is true, your mother may be liable for spreading lies and rumors about your father that have damaged his reputation. Your father may be able to sue your mother for defamation. Additionally, knowingly making false statements to law enforcement with the intention to implicate another is a crime in the state of Montana. If she lied to the Court to obtain the restraining order, then that is clearly perjury.

It doesn't seem like she's been able to cause much trouble other than have the cops sent to your father's residence a few times and to have him arrested but then released. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Best to just ignore her but adhere to any order of the Court.

[john]

Just hope the situation improves for you.

[laughter_every_day]

you can consider it harassment if you wish. That term has no legal significance in the context you described, so the purpose of asking if it is harassment is unclear.