An injunction for protection against domestic violence or repeat violence can be obtained in civil court based on very little evidence.  Judges tend to issue injunctions based on nothing more than the word of the Petitioner.  Plainly stated, injunctions are not very hard to obtain.  Once an injunction is obtained, it is a first degree misdemeanor to violate that injunction.

Penalties for Violating a Domestic Violence Injunction in Florida

A person who has willfully violated an injunction for a protection against domestic violence has committed a first degree misdemeanor if he or she:

• Refuses to vacate the dwelling shared with the petitioner;
• Goes to, or is within 500 feet of the petitioner’s residence, school, job, or other specified place frequented regularly by the petitioner and any family or household member named in the injunction;
• Committed an act of domestic violence against the petitioner;
• Committed any violation of the injunction through an unlawful threat, words, or act to do violence against the petitioner;
• Communicating with the petitioner indirectly or directly through telephone, contacting, or otherwise communicating (unless the injunction specifically allows indirect contact through a third party);
• Knowingly and intentionally comes within 100 feet of the petitioner’s vehicle, regardless if it is occupied or not;
• Defaces or destroys the petitioner’s personal property, including the petitioner’s vehicle;
• Refuses to comply with surrender of firearms or ammunition against the court’s order.

This first degree misdemeanor offense is punishable by up to one year in prison and / or up to $1,000 in fines. Additionally, if the petitioner suffers an injury and / or loss due to the offender’s violation of the injunction, he or she may be ordered by economic damages, which can also include attorneys’ fees for enforcement of the domestic violence injunction.