Stop the legal lynching by Florida's mandatory minimum sentencing
laws of an African American domestic violence survivor
Seattle Radical Women is a proud participant in the Pacific Northwest Alliance to
Free Marissa Alexander. The Alliance meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month
at 6:30pm at LEMS Life Enrichment Bookstore, 5023 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98118.
For more information: FreeMarissaPNW@gmail.com or 206-722-6057.
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As battered women often discover, the system that should protect them is frequently their worst enemy.
Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old African American mother of three living in Jacksonville, Florida, tried to follow the rules. She had a restraining order against her estranged husband, who had a record of abuse toward Alexander and other women. She had a legally licensed gun and had never been arrested. In August 2010, only nine days after having given birth, Alexander fired a warning shot into the wall of her house when her husband threatened her life. For this, a Florida jury convicted her of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after only 12 minutes of deliberation. On May 11, 2012, a judge rejected Alexander's "stand-your-ground defense" and sentenced her to 20 years under Florida's mandatory minimum sentencing rules. Stand-your-ground laws permit a person to use force in self-defense if they believe they are in serious threat of harm. According to a number of studies, African American women suffer higher levels of domestic abuse than any other ethnic group, most likely as a result of the stresses of poverty and discrimination. Black women are murdered by their partners at a rate three times that of white women. Jobless or low-paid, with a well-earned distrust of the criminal justice system, and a history of discrimination from health and social service institutions, abused women of color often have few resources to draw upon. 
Rainier Valley Heritage Parade, 8/18/12 Women of all races who fight back against abuse find little sympathy from police, courts, or media. In states where police are mandated to make an arrest in domestic violence situations, arrests of women have risen dramatically. Women are now nearly 20% of domestic violence arrests although men are acknowledged to commit 95% of the abuse. Black feminist Sharon Allard has observed that the Battered Woman Syndrome defense, which has been successfully used in court to justify why a woman killed or took action against an abuser, is often denied to Black women. Why? Because the stereotype of Black women as "domineering, assertive, hostile and immoral" hinders a judge's or juror's ability to believe that a Black woman acted in self-defense. According to Allard, Black women are twice as likely as white women to be convicted for murdering abusive husbands. The racist and sexist double standard exists at every level of U.S. society. It took a national outcry for the killer of African American teenager Trayvon Martin to be arrested after he invoked Florida's "stand-your-ground" law. Meanwhile, Congress is balking at reauthorizing the federal Violence Against Women Act, in part because the act contains new provisions that would help protect queers, Native Americans and immigrants. Radical Women demands the immediate release and pardon of Marissa Alexander, passage of a strengthened Violence Against Women Act, and an end to race and sex discrimination in the criminal justice system, including an end to mandatory minimum sentencing. In addition, Radical Women calls for massive increases in funding for jobs, aid to families, and shelters and services for everyone fleeing domestic violence regardless of their sexual orientation or immigration status. -- National Radical Women, June 5, 2012 
Seattle Radical Women meeting, 8/2/12 |
Resources Radical Women demands justice for Marissa Alexander Factsheet on the case Paper petition to circulate Online petition Endorse the case Websites www.justice4marissa.com www.facebook.com/JusticeForMarissaAlexander www.facebook.com/PacificNorthwestAllianceToFreeMarissaAlexander Donate to legal defense fund www.justice4marissa.com Write to Marissa Alexander Marissa Alexander #2012033887 500 East Adam St. Jacksonville, FL 32202 Supporters African-American/Black Women's Cultural Alliance Black Women's Blueprint Corrine Brown, U.S. Representative from Florida Dream Defenders Families Against Mandatory Minimums Florida New Majority Green Party of Seattle The Kandake Dance Theatre for Social Change Khametica Aspired LEMS Bookstore, Seattle Martin Luther King III NAACP - Jacksonville, Florida and national chapters National Congress of Black Women New Jim Crow Movement Radical Women Seattle Women In Black Sisters Organize for Survival Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Southern Freedom Movement Articles "Unbelievable: Fla. 'Stand Your Ground' Defense Rejected for Mother Only Firing 'Warning Shot'," Afro Briefs "Fighting for Our Lives, Marissa Alexander & Stand Your Ground," Blog Radio by Black Women's Blueprint "I Fought the Law and the Law Won," Feministing "Marissa Alexander Sentenced: Florida Mom Who Shot At Abusive Husband Gets 20 Years In Prison, Huffington Post "Marissa Alexander's 20-years mandatory prison sentence, where's the damn community outrage?," Chocolate City "Martin Luther King III to hold March in Florida in protest of Marissa Alexander sentence," The Grio "No Justice When Women Fight Back," Truth-Out "Please, Governor, Clemency for Marissa Alexander," Sunshine State News "Survivor of domestic violence gets 20 years," Freedom Socialist "You call this justice? Not if it's the victim who goes to prison," Miami Herald "Where was Stand Your Ground for Marissa Alexander," Time: Ideas Video Clips |