UPDATE: ‘Stand Your Ground’ Got Marissa Alexander 20 Years with No Community Outrage

*We are sitting on the precipice of the George Zimmerman trial set to begin on Monday, June 10, but we hope that people remember Marissa Alexander when the trial begins.

Marissa Alexander is the Florida mother and abused wife that fired a warning shot in her home to keep her husband, Rico Gray, from killing her –as he promised– and was sentenced to a mandatory 20 years in prison.

The Stand Your Ground law that she thought would protect her did not…and she didn’t kill anyone.  Her children were present and she was trying to protect herself.

She didn’t pursue him.  She did not kill him.  She was simply protecting herself and she is still waiting to see the community outraged by the extreme punishment.

George Zimmerman, on the other hand, stalked Trayvon Martin and willingly disregarded the authorities instructions for him to leave the 18-year-old alone and let them handle what Zimmerman, in his twisted thoughts, conveyed as a threat.

(more…)

Related News on EURweb:

• Marissa ‘Stand Your Ground’ Alexander Talks About her Case [Exclusive]
• Marissa Alexander Gets 20 Year Sentence for ‘Standing Her Ground’
• Abused Wife ‘Stood Her Ground,’ But Still Faces 20 Years
• Zimmerman Wants Case Dismissed Based on ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law
• George Zimmerman Waives Right to ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law

'Stand Your Ground' Repeal Bill Filed

Rep. Alan Williams | Credit: myfloridahouse.gov

By: Margie Menzel News Service of Florida | Posted: January 11, 2013 3:55 AM

    The controversial "stand your ground" self-defense law would be repealed under a bill filed this week by a House Democrat.

The law, which allows those who feel threatened to shoot back at assailants out in public, seized the national spotlight last year with the February shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford.

Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, filed the measure (HB 4009) on Wednesday.

The death of the unarmed 17-year-old Martin at the hands of a neighborhood watch volunteer under disputed circumstances raised questions about when and where Florida residents are allowed to shoot each other in light of the law, which says force can be met with force with no duty to first retreat.
  READ MORE

'Stand Your Ground' Linked To Increase In Homicides

Shankar Vedantam and David Schultz

January 02, 2013 4:50 PM

 

 

If a stranger attacks you inside your own home, the law has always permitted you to defend yourself. On the other hand, if an altercation breaks out in public, the law requires you to try to retreat. At least, that's what it used to do.

In 2005, Florida became the first of nearly two-dozen states to pass a "stand your ground" law that removed the requirement to retreat. If you felt at risk of harm in a park or on the street, you could use lethal force to defend yourself. The shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., drew national attention to these laws.

Now, researchers who've studied the effect of the laws have found that states with a stand your ground law have more homicides than states without such laws.

"These laws lower the cost of using lethal force," says Mark Hoekstra, an economist with Texas A&M University who examined stand your ground laws. "Our study finds that, as a result, you get more of it."    READ MORE
 

Fla. senator files 'stand your ground' revision

Trayvon Martin shot, killed Feb. 26

Published  9:46 AM EST Dec 20, 2012

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —The state Senate's Democratic leader has filed a bill revising Florida's "stand your ground law" following the Trayvon Martin shooting.

Sen. Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale said on Wednesday said his bill (SB 136) was inspired by the unarmed 17-year-old boy's death in Sanford. Martin was shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman who is claiming self-defense under the law.
One key change would eliminate protection from prosecution for someone who provokes violence or pursues a victim. The bill also would remove automatic immunity from arrest or detention and clarify that a suspect can be arrested following a questionable death.
It is likely to face opposition from Republicans who control the Legislature and backed the current law. A panel created by Gov. Rick Scott has recommended no major changes.

  READ MORE

Mark O'Mara to seek 'stand your ground' hearing during George Zimmerman trial

Attorney Mark O’Mara and George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman, 28, charged with the murder of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, will seek to have second-degree murder charges dismissed under Florida's 'stand your ground' law, his attorney said on Thursday.

If successful in securing a hearing under the law, it could result in the dismissal of all criminal charges against the man accused of killing Martin.

The hearing, which is not expected to take place for several months, will involve evidence collected by prosecutors as well as expert testimony from both sides. Accoring to the New York Post, legal experts believe that Zimmerman himself will testify since he is the sole survivor of the February 26 confrontation.

'Most of the arguments, witnesses, experts and evidence that the defense would muster in a criminal trial will be presented in the 'stand your ground' hearing,' a statement posted on Zimmerman's official defense website said.

Under the controversial Florida law, Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester could dismiss the charges if Zimmerman conclusively shows he shot Martin because he 'reasonably believed' he might be killed or suffer 'great bodily harm' at the hands of the unarmed teenager.    READ MORE

Woman Gets 20 Years for Claimed Warning Shot; Judge Rejected Stand-Your-Ground Immunity

Marissa Alexander

Posted May 23, 2012 9:01 AM CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The latest controversy over Florida’s stand-your-ground law concerns a defendant who argued without success that the defense should bar her prosecution.

Jurors deliberated only 12 minutes before convicting Marissa Alexander of Jacksonville, Fla., who says she fired a warning shot in an attempt to scare off her abusive husband, report the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and the Florida Times-Union. She was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced earlier this month to 20 years in prison.

A judge had refused to bar the prosecution based on Alexander’s claim she had immunity because of the state’s stand-your-ground law.

The case stems from an August 2010 incident. Alexander had gone to her former home to retrieve her belongings, and encountered her estranged husband there, Time magazine reports. He went into a rage after discovering texts to another man, she says, and threatened her. She went out to her truck, was unable to open the locked garage door, and got her gun from the vehicle, according to her account. She went back inside and fired. The bullet hit the wall.   READ MORE

Are Self-Defense Laws "Whites Only"?

Photo Credit: supportcece.wordpress.com

"African Americans are caught," says Rev. William Barber. "On one hand, we fight against stand-your-ground laws, but once the laws are on the books they aren't applied to us."

May 8, 2012

Trayvon Martin's killing at the hands of George Zimmerman, who walked free for six weeks before being arrested amid a public outcry, has both traumatized and galvanized Americans. The case reminds us that justice can be hard to come by in the U.S., and that race continues to play a disconcertingly large role in whether- - and how quickly -- wrongdoers are held responsible for their crimes.

In particular, the case has shined light on dubious "stand your ground" laws. Fed to state lawmakers -- first in Florida, and then in dozens of states around the country -- by the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on behalf of the NRA, stand-your-ground laws allow citizens to use deadly force if they feel threatened, even if they have the opportunity to retreat.  READ MORE

Marissa Alexander: Shoot to Kill Or You Must Not Be Scared Enough

April 23, 2012

By Pat Tiffin

Marissa Alexander is another victim of Florida’s infamous Stand Your Ground law, proving that Florida statute 776.013 is not for battered women or people who won’t shoot to kill. When attacked by her husband in her home, with an order of protection in place, Marissa Alexander shot into the ceiling, instead of into his body, to scare him away. She is now sitting in a jail cell, awaiting sentencing for assault with a deadly weapon.

 Ms. Alexander is black and a mother of three. She had given birth nine days earlier to a premature infant, allegedly as a result of battering during her pregnancy. She is a licensed gun owner, with concealed carry permit. She was in her own home. Her husband had a documented history of domestic violence. She reasonably believed that her life was in danger and her husband was violating an order of protection.
  READ MORE

Marissa Alexander

Marissa Alexander's Sentencing Delayed

Martin Death Spurs Group to Readjust Policy Focus

Could their other policies be any better?

By ERIC LICHTBLAU 

Published: April 17, 2012 

WASHINGTON — An influential conservative policy group that came under attack after the Trayvon Martin shooting for pushing Stand Your Ground gun laws nationwide said Tuesday that it was getting out of the law enforcement and social policy arenas and returning to its economic roots.

The group, the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, had suffered an exodus of big-name corporate supporters like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Kraft Foods after recent attacks by liberal organizations.

While the group had already been discussing a narrowing of its work, the controversy generated by the Martin shooting “may have sped up the process,” Chip Rogers, a Georgia state senator who is the group’s treasurer, said in a telephone interview.   READ MORE

The 'Gunshine State': Six Awful GOP Laws That May Harm Florida Forever

Florida Republicans bring gun mayhem, Jim Crow, teacher firings, insurance industry payoffs and misogyny to the Sunshine State.

April 11, 2012

While millions of residents and visitors are working on their tans, shady politics are prospering in the Sunshine State. What residents are now learning is that the negative impact of the work of the Republican-dominated legislature and Republican Gov. Rick Scott will haunt them for years to come.

Most of the new measures were approved over the past 12 months, but as we are all learning, seven-year-old legislation is causing excessive pain, heartbreak and anger in 2012.

 

1. Stand Your Ground

2. The Gunshine State

3. Resurrecting Jim Crow

4. Who Needs Public Schools?

5. Limiting Car Insurance Claims and Payments

6. Florida's GOP War on Women

And the List Goes On 

  READ MORE

 

      

Trayvon Martin and the American Lynch-Mob Mentality

Trayvon Martin, 17, was fatally shot by George
Zimmerman. (photo: ABC News)

By David A. Love, Guardian UK

08 April 12

Prosecutorial misconduct, police corruption and 'stand your ground' laws are part of the lingering lynch-mob mentality.

he shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, has exposed the issue of official misconduct, as police have failed to arrest, and prosecutors have refused to indict, George Zimmerman, Martin's self-professed killer. Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch volunteer, claimed Martin looked suspicious and that he shot him in self-defence. Although a federal investigation is under way, Martin's parents have asked the US department of justice to investigate possible meddling by the state's attorney's office with investigations by Sanford police the night of the killing. Martin's family believe that state attorney Norm Wolfinger and Sanford police chief Bill Lee overruled the recommendation of the chief homicide investigator that Zimmerman be arrested and charged with manslaughter. Further, the "stand your ground" law implicated in this case enables vigilantes who wish to perform private, extrajudicial executions and become a legalised lynch mob. The law breaks with centuries of legal tradition by allowing a person to "stand one's ground" and use deadly force wherever he or she feels threatened, without a duty to retreat.
  READ MORE