Fumbling broken optimistic

Not necessarily. Sometimes the process is the punishment

Oh; it's not about the money, it's about sending a message?

Not every state, judge, lawyer, or person is so understanding and forgiving. It’s a gamble with hope that they understand what you went through was abusive. They may say “it’s the process” :(

For real man, trying to remember the movie where the court’s medical expert was a “convicted sex offender.” They try to throw it back at him and he says, “I was convicted when she was 17. That was 15 years ago. I married that lady, and we’ve raised 5 children together….”

I believe that would be, "A Time to Kill," based on the book by John Grisham.

Thank you my fellow dude