Marissa Alexander, the woman who was given 20 years in prison for a warning shot against her abusive husband, has received some bad news.
Judge James Daniel not only denied bail for the woman, he also put off Alexander’s motion for a bond hearing until January 15, 2014. Alexander will have to wait two months to learn if she will be granted bond before her retrial.
The state’s argument is that there was no new evidence in the case, meaning that bail was not necessary for her case. Rather than making a decision about bail, the judge decided to avoid the decision altogether, keeping Ms.Alexander behind bars. What a coward!
Ms.Alexander has continued to proclaim her innocence and said that she only fired the gun in self-defense. Marissa Alexander says that her ex-husband, Rico Gray, had a history of abuse, and that she was using the gun to defend herself.
Part of the reason for Marissa Alexander’s sentence is that her two sons were in the room when she fired at her husband, leading the court to declare that she’d put them in danger.
Marissa Alexander did win a major victory by getting the state to give her a new trial in March 13, 2013. Advocates are claiming that her sentence was excessive, particularly given that it occurred at the same time, in the same state, that George Zimmerman was acquitted after admittedly killing an unarmed teen, Trayvon Martin.
They still have not explained that to my satisfaction.
Dr. Boyce Watkins, who advocates for equity in the criminal justice system, says that the Alexander case is typical.
“This case shows us two things,” says Dr. Watkins, who worked with Russell Simmons to get 175 celebrities to sign a letter to President Obama about mass incarceration.
“First, it shows that black people are not given justice in this system. Secondly, it shows that we still do not take domestic violence seriously in this country and millions of women are harmed as a result.”
The fight against injustice goes on! Free Marissa Alexander!
3 comments:
WTF is this BS about! No one hurt, abuser admits it was his fault and the injustice continues. The fight MUSt continue. This is beyond outrageous.
Come on Keith, You know the deal, She is a black person if she had killed him she would never see daylight only through her prison bars. This LAW in Florida is for WHITES only, they can kill blacks nothing is done about it if the shoe was on the other foot that black person would go to prison for life. This is a very sad deal this young lady got through prayer she will be set free and have time with her children and family that's my pray.
This judge is angry because someone has challenged his "God complex" and his decision has been shoved in his face. I am certain that he was bound and determined not to let this woman come home for Christmas. If she put his sons in danger (one of which was 18 at the time I think) then shouldn't he face child endangerment charges for having them there as he beat the crap out of her?
But this is Florida isn't it?
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