Augusta attorney Shawn Hammond doesn’t necessarily “care” about winning a domestic violence court case.

Attorney Shawn Hammond speaks to a group of family advocates at Nelson Hell Studio B Tuesday as part of a domestic violence forum. Photo by Charmain Z. Brackett domestic violence “What I care about is treatment and prevention,” said Hammond, who spoke

to a group of family advocates, social workers and some chaplains at Studio B in Nelson Hall on Tuesday.

However, prevention is not always possible, and Hammond, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, helped the Fort Gordon professionals learn a little more about how civilian and military law impact Families in a two-hour forum

The forum was “just educational awareness,” said Gwendolyn Pugh, Fort Gordon’s Family Advocacy Program manager at Army Community Service. October is domestic violence prevention month.

Hammond spoke about some of the subtleties of legal terms and highlighted differences between simple battery, battery, assault and felony assault.

“Everything in law is subjective,” he said.

There are fine lines between the offenses, and in some cases, lesser charges may be filed.

Other topics included military protective orders and civilian temporary protective orders.

Pugh said it was good to have someone come in who knew Georgia law as well as military law. Hammond brought with him Aimee Hall of Safe Homes of Augusta, the domestic violence safe haven organization in Augusta. He referred to her on several occasions.

Pugh said ACS has a good working relationship with Safe Homes of Augusta and considers it an important community resource.

Hammond said he believes that every company commander and first sergeant should be required to attend a briefing on domestic violence and learn what resources are available and how they can help families.