Expecting “The System” to Protect You Is a Losing Bet

The system had a chance to do something, and it wouldn't make the least effort. 'Nobody would listen': Six months before Maryland City quadruple shooting, victim was denied protective order

Six months before this guy killed her son, and her daughter-in-law and shot her grandson multiple times, she asked for a restraining order. It was denied.

The threats, captured in a screenshot and printed on paper, were rejected as evidence that he had abused Hunnicutt. Judge Lisa Broten denied Hunnicutt a year-long, final protective order after hearing two hours of testimony from witnesses supporting him.

Six months later, the man burst through the Maryland City home of Hunnicutt’s son, Ryan Lee, and her daughter-in-law, Ivania Lee, killing both and shooting her 10-year-old grandson, Junior, multiple times before killing himself, police said.

Personally I don't believe that a restraining order from the courts would have stopped this guy from doing anything. If you need a restraining order, then you need a plan for your personal safety. But this story does highlight how absolutely useless putting any hope in “The System” really is.

“Does everyone believe me now that it’s too late?” Hunnicutt, 51, said in an interview with The Capital from the hospital where her grandson is recovering. “I was telling the court, all the police, nobody would listen.”

This guy was so wound up in the "How dare you live without me" attitude that he was willing to commit murder. Do you really think a piece of paper was going to stand in his way?

The judge who got things so very wrong will suffer no blowback whatsoever. Because why would she? And the system?

A spokesperson for the Maryland Judiciary said judges are not able to speak about specific cases, but each protective order hearing is case-specific and dependent on variables such as the number of witnesses, submitted evidence and the overall complexity of the case.

So if you can get a bunch of friends to show up and say what a great person you are, then there will be no restraining order. That sounds like a great system.

I have written in this blog many times about how restraining orders don't do much restraining when it comes to people bent on doing violence. If you need a restraining order, then you need a plan for your personal safety.

Now even if this woman's son had owned a gun and been ready to defend his family, that is no guarantee that anything would have come out differently.

Nothing in this world is absolutely certain but death and next winter’s snow
   — Marion Zimmer-Bradley. The Saga of the Renunciates (Darkover Saga)

But blindly expecting that it is someone else's job (the police) to keep you and yours safe is to misunderstand what it is that police do. They show up after the fact, and try to figure out who did what. They are not there to protect you; not even if a restraining order is in place.