Chai's Analysis

Reason #649

Everyone under the sun has asked me, "Chai, why domestic violence? Why not immigration or civil rights or...corporate law?" I do domestic violence work because when I hear stories like this, it makes me angry. It makes me sad. It makes me feel like justice was NOT served. It makes me feel like we can do more. It also makes me see how our souls are not static, but flowing.

Cade was set ablaze by her estranged husband Oct. 10 at the T-Mobile store in Clinton where she was working. Roger B. Hargrave was convicted last week of attempted murder

Winfrey told her audience that several weeks before Hargrave's attack, a Prince George's District Court judge dismissed a protective order Cade had obtained against Hargrave. The audience gasped.

The judge later said the dismissal was the result of a clerical error, Winfrey said in disbelief. "Shame, shame -- that's a shame," she added.

Although protective orders are designed to keep abusers away, there is no consensus on whether they are effective.

Winfrey played the audiotape of a court hearing in which the judge, Richard A. Palumbo, is sarcastic, talks over Cade and dismisses her protective order.

"I think that's awful, don't you?" Winfrey asked audience members, who responded, "Yes!"

"We invited Judge Palumbo to be here or provide a statement, and you can see he ain't here," Winfrey said, prompting a big laugh from the crowd.

And Cade described what she remembered from that morning: Hargrave came into the store, and when she saw him, she told him she'd be with him in a minute. He then walked up to her and poured gasoline on her from a Sprite bottle. Then she felt something on her back. It was Hargrave, using a lighter to ignite her.

Cade ran outside, then back into the store. "I just went to the sink and I began to hose my face," she said. "And I remember thinking to myself that my face was melting."

Honestly, I must give WaPo credit for keeping this story in the news. Beyond the fact that it is so egregious, WaPo has been updating us on Cade's story since it happened.

I didn't watch the show, but a few of my co-workers did. They were infuriated with Oprah's questioning and victim blaming. I am watching it at work, so I'll put in my two cents later. Did you watch the show? What did you think?

posted by Chai at 9:56 PM | 0 people analyzed.