What the justice system has done to this woman is should be considered rape and robbery. A woman put in jail for twenty years because she was trying to ward an attack by an abusive husband. She would have been better off (and so would the rest of the world) if she had killed the man.
In one recent, highly controversial Florida sentencing, Marissa Alexander, an African-American woman in Jacksonville with no previous criminal record, was sentenced to 20 years for firing a pistol twice into the air while trying to ward off an attack by her abusive husband. Denied the protection of Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law, the 31-year-old mother of three was convicted of aggravated assault, a felony, and given the mandatory sentence for anyone who fires a gun in commission of the felony.
This came from an article about a teenager who was sentenced to 162 years in prison for participating in a string of robberies. Read about it here if you wish.
Justice is weird…I think it depends on if the judge likes the look of you. Certainly 20 years is excessive for trying to protect herself
I totally agree with you on this one. It is interesting to see how they parcel out this law and who receives the benefits from it and who doesn’t. I’ve heard somewhere that if you have to shoot an intruder, put the gun in their hand before the cops arrive. I would imagine the same applies to abusive spouses.
There is a very good book that addresses this matter. I have blogged about it but not sure of the name. I think it is Before You Shoot. It is talking about shooting in self defense of course.