Family Law: Court Rules That Excessive Texts Aren't Harassment
Posted on Thu, Sep 01, 2011 @ 09:53 AM
EX-SPOUSE'S ANGRY, REPEATED TEXTING NOT HARASSMENT, APPEALS COURT SAYS
Excessive texting" from one divorced parent to the other does not necessarily amount to harassment, a state appeals court said Monday in a published decision reversing a final restraining order. The husband's sending of 18 angry messages in the space of three hours "shows only the convergence of modern technology and the foibles of human judgment," the Appellate Division held in L.M.F. v. J.A.F., A-121-10. While texting is a good communication mode between estranged couples because of brevity and impersonality, it still is susceptible to "frustration and misuse" if parties do not cooperate, the court said, calling the husband's behavior "dysfunctional" but not done with the requisite intent to harass.
NJLJ 8/23/2011
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