Who Takes Care of the Victims of the Current Crime Wave?

By Kate M. Harper, Esq., President, Montgomery Bar Foundation

Whether you hear it on KYW, watch it on the 11 o’clock TV news, or see it flash across your screens without warning, reports of crime, murder, assault, and rape are numbingly familiar these days and the faces and names of the victims often get blurred in our memories as the depressing statistics mount. Once the cameras have moved on, who takes care of the victims and their families? And who will console those who love the victims and those who experienced the trauma alongside them?

You are the ones who take care of these victims if you are a regular contributor to the Montgomery Bar Foundation (MBF)! The MBF is the charitable arm of the Montgomery Bar Association, and your generous contributions provide annual grants to the Victim Services Center of Montgomery County which provides free and confidential support and services to crime victims and their loved ones.

The Victims Services Center has a free, 24/7 hotline at 1-888521-0983 to connect crime victims to confidential counseling to help deal with the aftermath of having been a victim of crime. Founded in 1974 as Women Against Rape, Victim Services provides counseling and advocacy for people affected by sexual violence and other crimes against the person to help the victims cope with the trauma they have been through and to begin to heal. “I was scared and emotionally in crisis at the court house when I went to apply for an order of protection from sexual violence,” says one. “Having my victim advocate by my side to support me helped me to cope and gave me courage to file the petition.”

Longtime Victims Services Center Executive Director Mary Onama, LMSW, heads Montgomery County’s comprehensive victim services agency and also advocates in Montgomery County and across the state of Pennsylvania for survivors of rape and crime so that the needs of the victims are recognized, acknowledged, and prioritized in our criminal justice system. At the Victim Services Center, women and men are believed, and then healed from becoming victims—a fate they never sought or expected.

Trained victim advocates, bilingual if needed, support the 24hour hotline and help crime survivors deal with isolation, anxiety, uncertainty, depression, and grief. Most importantly, they reassure the crime victims that they are not alone, and that someone cares for them and about them, in order to help the victim to heal.

Executive Director Mary Onama puts it this way: “VSC’s advocacy services are a safety net for residents of Montgomery County who need access to justice especially during traumatic times in their lives. This may be when they need to file for protection orders, attend court hearings for trials, go to interviews with law enforcement or to the hospital for Forensic rape kit exams. We appreciate the grant funds from the Montgomery County Bar Foundation that help to fund our access to justice advocacy services.”

The MBF supports nonprofits that help advance the cause of justice in Montgomery County, and the Victim Services Center certainly does this. When you give to the Foundation, it’s a tax deductible contribution, and your money goes straight to nonprofits like the Victim Services Center, as well as Legal Aid of Southeastern PA, the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Project, Your Way Home, ACLAMO, Laurel House, Mission Kids, the Women’s Center of Montgomery County, the Senior Law Center, and many other organization that help make Montgomery County a better and more just society.

There are several ways to give. MBF Fellows give, and promise to give, regular annual contributions, and they truly are the sustaining members of the Foundation. Young lawyers (and not so young, of course) can set up smaller, monthly donations online by visiting the Foundation webpage on the MBA website. We will be having our annual Montgomery Bar Foundation Legal Aid golf outing on Monday, June 26, 2023. Save the date now and MBF Events and Fundraising Committee Chair Paul Mullin, Esq., will announce the details later.

We, your fellow lawyers on the MBF Board, are grateful for your support and the greater Montgomery County community is grateful that lawyers are giving back. Most MBF Grant recipients do important work that is not easily understood by the general public unless they find themselves in a tough situation they never expected.

Of course, many of these organizations also rely on the lawyers on their boards, and that time and expertise is a wonderful contribution, too. Thank you. Please check out the Foundation webpage on the MBA website and work with us to help us help the organizations that promote justice in our local community.

By Joel B. Bernbaum, Esq.

Artificial Intelligence

Recently, the hot topic in tech has been AI, which is short for Artificial Intelligence and not Allen Iverson (couldn’t resist). AI has been with us since the early days of the implementation of computers and tech in our personal lives and daily work. Early science fiction predicted robots taking over and controlling our lives; even “The Jetsons” included AI in its fictitious prediction of the future by including a robot “pet.”

In the mid-eighties, we were introduced to AI when we began to give up the law library books and use dedicated computer terminals to do legal research. Type in “keywords or clauses” and select the “return” key to find the relevant law, including cited cases or articles retrieved by a computer utilizing AI.

You can fault AI for the torrent of spam, junk mail, and phone calls generated by AI. Blocking and deleting them does little to stop the intrusion and breaches of security. Think of all the boiler plate responses we get to e-mail and voice-mail…AI.

The reality is AI has become part of our daily lives and is only expanding as we talk, read or watch…or is it an AI bot like Chat GPT? The AI powered chatbot, ChatGPT, outperformed many MBA students in exams given at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. As a result, exams are being given in person to detect ChatGPT.

Recently, Google released Bard, its own AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT. Microsoft has incorporated its version of ChatGPT into its browser, Bing, across a range of activities, from writing software and passing exams to offering advice, in the style of King James Bible, on how to remove a sandwich from a VCR.

I tried ChatGPT myself by typing “In the State of Pennsylvania, Father wants physical custody of his 8-year-old son. He is the better parent.”

ChatGPT responded:

FACTUAL BACKGROUND:

Father is seeking physical custody of his 8-year-old son in the state of Pennsylvania. Father believes that he is the better parent for the child and should be awarded physical custody.

LEGAL ARGUMENT:

In the state of Pennsylvania, the best interests of the child are the primary consideration in determining custody arrangements. In determining the best interests of the child, the court will consider several factors, including the child’s relationship with each parent, the stability of each parent’s home environment, and each parent’s ability to provide for the child’s physical, emotional, and developmental needs.

Father argues that he is the better parent for the child and should be awarded physical custody.

He states that he has a strong and loving relationship with his son, and that he can provide a stable and nurturing home environment for the child. He also highlights his ability to provide for the child’s physical, emotional, and developmental needs.

Furthermore, Father can argue that he has been the primary caregiver for the child for most of his life, he has a stable job and home, and that he has not been involved in any criminal or other negative behavior that would put the child at risk. He can also present evidence that the child is well-adjusted and happy living with him, and that a change in custody would be detrimental to the child’s mental and emotional well-being.

COUNSEL’S REQUEST:

Based on the above legal argument and evidence, counsel for Father requests that the court award him physical custody of his 8-year-old son.

My comment:

It is important to note that this is a simplified version of a legal brief, and the actual brief would have more detail and evidence to support the arguments and would also consider the other parent’s arguments and evidence.

Who needs lawyers or Judges…

Enjoy the Internet, E-Mail, and social media, but “Let’s be careful out there!”

Joel Bernbaum

Please send your questions and comments to me at: joel@bernbaumfamilylaw.com