BEFORE DEATH, WE MUST PART:

• Published date: 01 January 2005
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1617.2005.00014.x
• Date: 01 January 2005
• Author: Paul S. Haberman

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 43 No. 1, January 2005 149–163

© 2005 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts

Blackwell Publishing, Ltd.Oxford, UKFCREFamily Court Review1531-2445© 2004 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts431

STUDENT NOTES

Haberman / BEFORE DEATH, WE MUST PARTFAMILY COURT REVIEW

BEFORE DEATH, WE MUST PART:

Relocation and Protection for Domestic Violence Victims in Volatile

Divorce and Custody Situations

Paul S. Haberman

Domestic violence trends and case law reporters across the country suggest the time is right for a new alternative

in the struggle to provide refuge for victims of domestic violence. As the American justice system stands right

now, there is no significant mechanism in the United States with the financial, legislative, and legal backing to

help victims of domestic violence escape. A model for relocation based upon the Federal Witness Protection Pro-

gram can provide such a mechanism. The first part of this note presents a New Jersey case where a divorce pro-

ceeding resulted in the relocation and change of identity of a battered woman and her children, and suggests this

remedy as a model for an interstate or federal relocation program for domestic violence victims. The next part

provides a discussion of the merits and rationale behind such a program. The third part discusses the types of

batterers this program would seem to protect against, a legal standard to ascertain whether someone is eligible,

and certain logistical issues of a theoretical program. The next two parts discuss items troublesome to the imple-

mentation of both state and federal programs. The sixth part discusses potential issues such programs might face

once implemented on both levels. Finally, the last part provides an overall assessment of the feasibility of such

programs, followed by the conclusion. While the costs that would be incurred by such a program on the interstate

or federal level may be quite high, it is quite clear that relocation and protection could save countless lives each

year and provide a new beginning for the innocent victims that toil in a world of domestic violence.

Keywords:

Domestic violence

;

witness protection

;

Nucito

;

relocation

;

protection

;

identity

INTRODUCTION

Ter ri Nucito and her attorney, Arlene Groch, are the pioneers of a new frontier that

has the potential to open an intriguing avenue for resolving extremely high-conflict

divorce and custody cases involving domestic violence. On October 28, 1995, Nucito,

formerly of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, became the first woman to be relocated

and given a new identity with government funding as part of the resolution to the divorce

litigation against her husband, Paul.

1

Hers was but one of many unfortunate tales from the

world of domestic violence, a world that bore witness to her once being held captive by

her husband for thirteen hours while subject to sodomy, repeated cigarette burns, and

threats upon her life.

2

But unlike many victims of domestic violence, Nucito was given a

way out in a groundbreaking decision by Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Valerie H.

Armstrong.

3

Judge Armstrong’s ruling was twofold: a grant of divorce to clear the way for a change

in Ms. Nucito and her children’s identities, and a sealed judgment containing the new

names, Social Security numbers, and birth certificates.

4

In the event that Ms. Nucito’s ex-

husband ever desires to see the children again, he must pass a three-pronged test whereby