Domestic Violence Victims Get Victory

JACKSON, Miss. (Press Release) — Domestic violence victims have won a major victory when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit to block a recently passed state Public Service Commission domestic violence rule.

The rule at the center of the suit provides for a sixty day waiver of initial utility deposits for victims who are certified by domestic violence shelters and was designed to lighten the financial pressures that keep victims from moving away from a violent household.

The case was brought against Commissioner Brandon Presley and the other two Public Service Commissioners by the Mississippi Rural Water Association, Inc., which sought a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction against the Commission.

“I am pleased to see that the cloud of uncertainty for victims this lawsuit presented is now gone. I hope that now our focus can be on implementing the rule so victims can have the opportunity for a fresh start,” Presley said.

Presley introduced the rule in 2013, and it was approved in September of last year. It was modeled after similar efforts in Louisiana and Texas.