ADVERTISEMENTS

Today was Epic Judge Fail Day. A judge in our county failed to enter a domestic violence protective order for one of our clients who was beat up by her spouse. I won't go into details, but let's just blame it on the Demons of Stupidity, which caused said rejection. It's unbelievable, and our poor battered client... just... ugh.

Boss Dude filed her divorce papers today, getting the matter before a different judge, who is as appalled as we are by the situation (and it was apparently the big lunch table discussion for the courthouse crew today). I mean, I'm just flabbergasted. The worst thing about it is, Alleged Wife Beater owns guns. Big ones. (Everyone around here owns guns.) And because the protective order was rejected, we could only get a restraining order against him from the other judge, which is less restrictive. Which doesn't allow for confiscating the guns. The really big guns. Forget the client... I'm going to get shot. By really big guns. Great. This week keeps getting better.

I just can't believe stuff like this still happens. I mean, it's one thing to have a bad ruling on a civil case. Like, someone doesn't get their money/their property/whatever. That sucks and all, but this is someone's safety on the line. I don't know if this guy would go crazy and shoot his wife, but who knows. When someone beats their spouse, they prove what they're capable of. I just can't fathom how we managed to not be able to protect our client as much as the law allows. Maybe I'm just a naive little law grad that thinks justice ought to prevail, but shit. It didn't. Consider my bubble burst.

Anyway, suckdom of Epic Judge Fail aside, I had the opportunity to chat with the local nonprofit that helps battered women, and it seems like an excellent program. Sadly, I'm sure I'll be working with them plenty in the future. And hopefully not for this particular client again.

I'm about to call mulligan on the whole week.

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.