December 6, 2003
City of Richmond Courts
J & D Operates in1960 Mode
It’s shameful! Nowhere have I seen the “good ole boy” system functioning so well…oh, yes! It’s alive and well in the City of Richmond J & D Courts. As the Court sees it, I am not worthy of the same protection under law as my husband.
Yesterday, for the second time, I was not granted a permanent protective order. If I am in fear for my life as the law requires a petitioner to be, why would legal long-term protection not be granted? According to the law as read by the last Richmond judge hearing my plea for protection, fear is subjective. If the petitioner feels he/she is truly in danger and sincerely fearful for his/her life, then the judge does, indeed, have the authority to grant a permanent protective order. And in my mind the judge is obligated to grant that protective order. But, alas, even while the judge verbally addressed the spirit and the letter of the law, he chose not to apply it in my case. Even though there is proof I am physically pursued by my idiot husband whose motives are unknown by the court, unknown by the attorneys who represent us and certainly, is unknown to me, he is allowed to walk this earth and not only aggravate the living hell out of me, he scares the life out me. And the law backs his sorry hide…no! I will go farther in saying the law facilitates his crime. Will someone tell me what century this is??
It is very clear the law is not applied with an even hand without regard to the petitioner’s, that’s me, prior convictions or legal history, as it is required by virtue of written code. Only the case at hand is to be judged without references to existing legal actions or decisions made in other courts. But it doesn’t play out that way in my reality. Thus, I am the recipient of several biased decisions rendered by the old men of the courts for probably any number of reasons. After all, this is the South. Women have been relegated to the reign of their husbands for centuries in Virginia and that condition remains so today. No matter the husband may be mean-spirited, dangerous and conniving enough to harm his spouse to cover his lecherous behind, men rule Virginia Juvenile and Domestic Court! My husband is a product and a working example of the legal system’s blind eye being cast upon the guilty!
I was unfortunate enough to have been poorly represented when my husband falsely accused me of assault. Why was I accused? I was accused to cover, shall I say, an indiscretion on his part which I stumbled upon. Well, not really stumbled upon, but I was informed by the second party of this “indiscretion” who lived in hope I’d turn his sorry ass loose. And I did!
The assault claim arises from a discussion between my husband and me regarding the truth of the matter, which I expected was going on for some time. He had spent quite a few days with the “second party” out of town for a week at a time and at various other military functions our two “patriots” were required to attend. Even though his lack of interest in his wife was apparent for more than two years, he denied there was anything between himself and the “second party.” Hmmm?? Not so according to her. He was proud to say, her attentions lavished on him were nothing more than camaraderie. So he stood there in front of me, insulting my intelligence to the nth degree and God, bless me, if I didn’t attempt to poke him in the mouth for being firstly, stupid, and secondly, for assuming I’d believe him. That, my dears, was the extent of my assault on my philanderer. No bruises, no bumps, I barely touched him. However, he wasted no time leaving his marks on me when I attempted to leave him and the sorry marriage behind. His life as he’d known it for the last five years was over! So he ran to the police, got an assault warrant on me resulting in a protective order based on lies. I was arrested. Sure was! He attempted to have me committed to a mental institution to neutralize the letter of complaint I sent to his command about the “second party’s” poor treatment of me at a formal military dinner. And he had the help of his immediate supervisor who was also involved in a few escapades of his own. Now that’s a conniving SOB if there ever was one! You bet your sweet ass, I am afraid of husband and what he will or may do to me. And, ladies, the military doesn’t care if he assaulted me or not. The J & D courts don’t care that I am the injured party and in need of protection. This is truly a sad state of affairs. This is truly, darlin’, life in the South.
I reckon I’ll just sit under the Magnolia, have a glass of sweet iced-tea and ponder on my sins as well as those of the Virginia J & D Court and hopefully devise some way to protect myself in a legal manner. A bad dog perhaps is the answer…Y’all have a nice day!