Saturday, May 12, 2012

Congressman Corrine Brown on Marissa Alexander (Jacksonville, FL) Ruling

Congresswoman Corrine Brown Deplores Marissa Alexander Ruling (Washington, DC) Congresswoman Brown made the following statement: Earlier today, I watched in horror and extreme sadness as a judge sentenced Marissa Alexander, a documented victim of domestic violence, to a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison for firing warning shot into the air after she was attacked by her husband. This African American woman didn’t hurt anyone and now she might not hug her children for twenty years.

 The imbalance in this case was abundantly clear in the courtroom. On the State’s Attorney side of the room, I saw nine prosecutors and twenty officers. On Marissa’s side, I saw a lone defense attorney doing his best in what clearly an unfair fight. My first step in this case will be to bring in the nation’s best experts in domestic violence law. The Florida criminal justice system has sent two clear messages today. One is that if women who are victims of domestic violence try to protect themselves, the “Stand Your Ground Law” will not apply to them. Just minutes before the incident, Marissa’s husband told her “if I can't have you, nobody going to have you.” Millions of abused women have heard those words. Abused women like Marissa, who has a master’s degree and no prior record, need support and counseling so they don’t find themselves in these situations to begin with.

 Arresting and prosecuting them when no one was hurt does not help anyone. Even worse, mandatory minimum sentences just make the system appear arbitrary and cruel. The second message is that if you are black, the system will treat you differently. A mere fifty miles away in Sanford Florida, a white man who shot a black teenager and claimed self-defense was not even arrest until community leaders and people around the world expressed their outrage. I have spoken to countless lawyers and they have yet to discover any cases in Florida where an African American was able to successfully use the “Stand Your Ground Law” defense in a hearing.” Another step I will take is to call for a study into racial disparities in the application of this law. What I didn’t see in the courtroom today is mercy or justice. The three year plea deal from Angela Corey is not mercy and a mandatory twenty year sentence is not justice. I hope that the people will come to Marissa’s defense as the system has so utterly failed her. This is just the beginning, not the end.


18 comments:

  1. I support reform of the stand your ground law and mandatory minimum sentencing... a bad combination for florida

    http://voices.yahoo.com/stand-ground-strikes-again-11306424.html?cat=9

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  2. furthermore... because i'm sure this will come up....

    She used the word “trapped” when she said the garage wouldn’t open. But then she said when she went in he hadn’t left through the front door like he was “supposed to”. If she thought he was “supposed to” be leaving, then how did you feel trapped? She was in the garage, how would she have known where he was? She said herself he had come into the kitchen alone (without his son), which means she was aware of who had left and who hadn’t while she was in the garage. Her story sounds like an attempt at justifying what she did (hence why she keeps bringing up his past history). His past history has nothing to do with her going BACK in the house.

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    1. If you had someone WHOPPING YOUR BUTT on a regular basis, in your own home nonetheless, you may have a clearer definition of the word "Trapped"

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    2. I'm not arguing that her husband was not (is not) a scumbag, because that's not the topic at hand. Stick to the topic. Your failure to grasp the obvious will eventually sink in and sting your conscience.

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  3. Have you ever watched a man beat a woman? I COMPLETELY understand the concept of leaving my kitchen and going into the garage to transfer my weapon back into the house IF MY LIFE WAS IN DANGER. It was apparent that she was not trying to harm anyone, as she only fired a warning shot.

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  4. Angela Corey says this case and the Zimmerman case are different, but why did it take 44 days to arrest Zimmermann when he killed a child and they gave him his gun back at the scene? Would it be better if Marissa had killed him? Are they not taken into consideration that she spared a man's life?

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  5. Hi, I am a producer with CBS National News here in NYC, I am trying to reach out to Marissa Alexander and her family about covering her story. Can someone please reach out to me so we can help spread the word to our millions of viewers? Thanks so much, Katy Conrad --

    ConradK@cbsnews.com, 212.975.5084.

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  6. Prime example of how the punishment does not fit the crime. BUT someone can kill and only get a slap on the hand. Hmmmmmm.....what is wrong with this picture?

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    1. What's wrong with this picture? I think the question is "What's wrong with your brain?" Zimmerman fired his gun in self defense. Marissa did not. She fired her gun in an aggravated mental state. The only point here that I will concede is the length of her sentence.

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  7. To Marissa and family, you are in my prayers. My heart really hurts over this whole ordeal that has gone so wrong. I hope those who did this can sleep at night. IJS.

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  8. This breaks my heart. :( But it's obvious to me that Florida's pro-gun laws are certainly not meant for a woman, especially a woman of color, defending herself against an abusive male. This is a depraved travesty of justice -- a woman with no priors, a restraining order and who injured NO ONE gets 20 years in prison. We need to help her as surely as we'd help a prisoner of war overseas or a hostage. She is falsely imprisoned! You are all in my thoughts and I will help in any meager way I can.

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    1. It's obvious to me that you are prejudiced & incapable of rational thought.

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  9. How in God's name did these folks conclude that Marissa fired in anger with intent to harm rather than firing a warning shot?

    1. The shot missed despite her being proficient in gun use
    2. She didn't fire another shot
    3. The gun was pointed down until she was threatened.

    http://wordsofwhizdumb.com/2012/05/in-case-of-marissa-alexander.html

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    1. Doesn't matter Lambert! You can't fire a gun like that! This isn't the wild west! You think her standing there with the gun she came back into the room with wasn't threatening in itself? Imagine the horror her children went through while she stood there arguing with a gun at her side! Give me a flippin break.

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    2. Imagine the horror her children went through by repeatedly seeing their dad beat on their mother!!! Unless you are a woman, and have personally experienced being beaten and threatened by a man, thrn you cannot begin to understand how she felt. You say she was not trapped. There are different ways in which a person can feel trapped. Believe me, men who beat on women make full use of the knowledge and psyhchological aspects of fear and control in these situations. If someone has repeatedly beaten and abused you, and has threatened you that if you leave or report them that they will kill you, then would you not feel "TRAPPED"!!! I may not agree with her firing the gun, but I can definitely understand her doing so. And it is obvious she wasn't trying to kill the man. So, why does she deserve to go to prison while he is still free to walk the streets and look for his next victim.

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  10. Clearly, Angela Corey isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. I am shocked that she allowed herself to get sucked into a debate with the congresswoman, in front of the media. While I think the 20 year sentance is absurd, I think this encounter speaks volumes about Corey's lack of intelligence.

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    1. Twenty years may be absurd, but what is equally magnificent in absurdity is the idea that these two cases have anything in common other than the fact that they both happened in Florida. This fallacy has been trumpeted by the Pro-Trayvon crowd kind hard, dontcha think? Has the Skittle Squad shown one ounce of intelligence or objectivity in these matters? None.

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  11. Please don't draw parallels with the Zimmerman-Treyvon affair.

    This is what I sent to the DOC in Florida in support of Marissa:

    "20 years for shooting a wall? Only in the USA would they pull this junk. Mandatory minimum for Marissa Alexander? Listen even if her husband didn't act like she said, and was a victim, she only shot at a wall, 20 years no parole mandatory? The judge has no say in sentencing because he is bound by a mandatory minimum? What is wrong with the justice system. Mandatory minimums are ridiculous, let the judge decide based on the circumstances. This lady should be doing 30-90 days in jail, 2 years probation, and lose her firearms license according to the circumstances; provided she is actually guilty. But I have strong feeling this case will be thrown out on appeal. If she is not guilty, then this is a total miscarriage of justice.

    From a man who has lived in the USA, Canada, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, and been all over the world. I hope you take pitty on this women, 20 years for what? In other countries people don't get this kind of sentence for Murder."

    I hope Marissa get freed on appeal or granted clemency, this story shocked me, and the idiotic responses by some people. "You break the law then do the time". Well, one day they will become the victims of this savage justice system. The USA incarcerates more people per capita, and in number more than any other country in the world. More than over populated communist China in number, more the N. Korea per capita. The USA being #1 at both per capita and total number for prison population shows that justice is miscarried in the US. And Marissa is a victim of mandatory minimum's which are shiite.

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