In case anyone actually believes, seriously, that the law is applied fairly and equally, consider the case of Marissa Alexander, a young black woman and mother of three children in Florida.
In 2010, she fired a warning shot into the wall or ceiling of their home to scare off an admittedly abusive husband, against whom she had a restraining order, in a confrontation in which she felt threatened. No one was hurt.
She was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with intent to cause injury to another. Because this "assault" was done with a gun, Florida's 10-20-Life sentencing law automatically added 10 years to her sentence. The judge denied her assertion of self defense and did not allow a Stand Your Ground defense.
The NRA was very concerned about George Zimmerman's right to protect himself from the fear of great bodily harm in a situation he, himself, was responsible for. For some reason, the NRA is not one of the organized groups fighting to have Alexander's conviction overturned. A search for Marissa Alexander's name on the NRA website yields nothing related to this story.
3 comments:
First, I agree that the SYG defense seems appropriate here, and the 20 years for a domestic dispute where no one was hurt is ridiculous.
As one of the authoritative commenters noted, "Most battered women who kill in self-defense end up in prison." Not fair, correct or anything like justice.
Would point out, though, that the NRA did not advocate or comment on the Zimmerman/Martin trial in any individual manner that I could find. Nor this one. Policy, I guess. They were vilified over and over by opponents who thought the NRA's support of the SYG law was to blame, but I couldn't find any direct, individual comments on the Zimmerman/Martin trial as it unfolded. So I am not sure how they got into this discussion.
Also, the overzealous prosecution of Ms. Alexander was by the same Angela Corey who prosecuted Zimmerman and was accused of over-charging...which ended up, according to the jury, to be in error.
I have no idea the origin of the law in Florida that exacted such a terrible penalty in this case, but it would seem like one of the provisions approved and endorsed by anti-gun lobbies as well as the law and order folks.
The facts of the case begin to make things more interesting--the husband became enraged when he determined that he may not be the father of one of the children. He, in his original deposition, had admitted to "four or five" baby mamas, had hit her "four or five times" (seems to be the number of choice) including hitting her and one of the other women in the mouth because "they just wouldn't shut up." Matter of fact, one time Ms. Alexander was hit, fell into the bathtub and hit her head. He is not a model citizen according to his own words.
All of these things, later recanted by the husband, would seem to be adequate to establish that she was in fear of great bodily harm or death, one of the tests of the SYG law.
She was arrested, released on bail and told not to have contact with the "victims." "Victims" because the children were apparently in the next room where the shot was fired. That shot may have narrowly missed his head and gone through the wall. According to the testimony, the children were endangered.
One of the legal problems with the SYG defense is that she had left the house, gone to the garage and returned with the gun. Guess that changes things when you have escaped and then return.
Anyway, she violated the terms of her parole, assaulted the husband and ended up back in the pokey.
When you look at this case through a prism that is not predisposed to find racism, you see a really messy situation, contradictory claims, children in danger, stories made and changed, court orders violated on both sides and a ridiculously severe mandatory sentencing requirement imposed on the court.
Hopefully, the Governor will step up and try to correct this some.
Meanwhile, as Charles Barkley said, these cases give the racists, both black and white, a chance to comment.
Bob-You are apparently right, goddamn it, that the NRA did not make any specific comments about the Zimmerman/Martin affair. Or, to be more specific, there is nothing on their website about it, just as there isn't with regard to Marissa Alexander.
They are, however, a legitimate part of the overall discussion because of their support for, and association with, SYG laws around the country...for example, their outrage that the Attorney General dad the gall to say SYG laws encourage violence to escalate and that they "senselessly expand the concept of self defense," a very apt phrase to my way of thinking.
As I have said before, I think Stand Your Ground laws are stupid and dangerous, especially if they do not require the armed person to do everything possible to escape the situation. There are inadequate (or no) standards for defining when it is reasonable to fear great bodily harm. Much fear, after all, is totally unreasonable and merely reflects personal biases. Also the law needs to set an extremely high bar for the permissible killing of an unarmed person. But if it applies anywhere, it would seem to apply in the case of Alexander, who was defending not only herself but three children (which would plausibly justify returning from the garage, instead of fleeing alone.).
These cases absolutely need to be looked at through a prism that is disposed to find racism. Cultural racism is very subtle and insinuates itself into our daily lives seamlessly and without any overt indication. It is always masked with plausible justifications. To pretend it does not exist and to vilify those who point it out will only ensure its perpetuation. To pretend a false equality between the cultural racism of whites and blacks, a lá Charles Barkley is absurd. I absolutely do not understand the need for some people to deny the racism that still infects society, or the need to always be on the lookout for an incident they can label as reverse racism.
Your phrase, "legitimate part of the overall discussion" was my reason for inserting Al Sharpton into one of our conversations. And, as I remember, you criticized my doing so.
The NRA is a player in any discussion of SYG laws or gun control or any other topic de jour regarding firearms in general. In my opinion, they are not the villain you portray, but that is probably one of the matters where we will just continue to disagree.
I may be wrong about this, but haven't versions of the stand-your-ground law, or at least the principle, been around for centuries? Like part of English (and maybe other) common law? The "castle principle" or something? Too lazy to look it up, thought maybe I could spur you to do it? lol.
Now, the law that imposed a penalty like that on Marissa Alexander is not right, and it had nothing to do with SYG. Either the laws need to be better conceived and enacted or the courts need to have the ability to impart some common sense on the situation.
She and baby daddy are not the innocent victims that one might assume from some of the demonstrators and commenters. They have demonstrated behavior that is outside the law, both of them. But the result was ridiculous...I can't find a better word.
Now, to jump from that to an insidious, "cultural" racism is quite a leap. Seems to come naturally, though, when always on the lookout for racism through that prism you described.
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