Restraining Orders

Louisiana law says it should not be shared in court - as long as the advocate is an employee or representative of a sexual assault center that is “established and accredited in accordance with the standards set by the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault.”¹  The law says that the information that you share with such an advocate and any communications that s/he has with you while s/he is providing you with services are considered “privileged.”  If a communication is privileged, that means that there is generally not a requirement to reveal it in court through testimony or to produce any records or documents related to that privileged communication in a civil or criminal proceeding.²  If one of the lawyers in a case tries to get the information by sending a subpoena, both you and the advocate have the right to tell the judge the information is “privileged” and should not be revealed.  It is often best to have a lawyer when trying to quash (fight against) a subpoena.  For legal referrals, go to our LA Finding a Lawyer page.

¹ LA R.S. 46:2187(A)(1),(2)
² LA R.S. 46:2187(A)(1),(B)