Gloria Allred
High-profile lawyer Gloria Allred says Simpson's death is latest reminder of a justice system's failure to protect abused women.
(Photo : (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

O.J. Simpson's passing Thursday has ignited a firestorm of reactions and not all of them offer condolences.

Gloria Allred, who represented Nicole Brown Simpson's family during O.J. Simpson's high-profile murder trial, one of her first major cases as a prominent victims' rights advocate, stated the former NFL star's death is a stark reminder of how the justice system failed to protect women in abusive relationships.

"Simpson's death reminds us that the legal system, even 30 years later, is still failing battered women, and that the power of celebrity men to avoid true justice for the harm that they inflict on their wives or significant others is still a major obstacle to the right of women to be free of the gender violence to which they are still subjected," she said.

Allred also spoke to New York's ABC/7, saying, "I don't mourn for O.J. Simpson; I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family, and they should be remembered."

"What was important was that there was some form of justice in the civil justice system that found that he was in fact liable for her wrongful death and the wrongful death of Ronald Goldman," she added.

The family of Orenthal James "OJ" Simpson announced Simpson's death on April 10, following his longtime battle with cancer. He was 76.