State Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, is asking Florida governor Rick Scott to pardon Marissa Alexander, the 32-year-old African America woman who received an outrageous 20-year sentence for firing a warning shot to ward off her abusive husband. Alexander's futile defense cited Stand Your Ground, the same principle George Zimmerman used to get away with murdering Trayvon Martin. Unfortunately, the governor has yet to respond to Bullard's request as he has not been seen in days, which may have something to do with the protesters who have camped out in the Capitol building these last few days.
4 comments:
First, let's be clear: Stand your ground was not part of Zimmerman's defense. He actually based it all on a simple self-defense plea. That doesn't mean he's innocent, but the verdict reflects the prosecution's failure to prove their point... which is exactly how we want our criminal justice system to work.
Second, I don't believe the facts in the Alexander case are as cut-and-dry as you make it sound here. If only there were some public records or something we could consult on this...
Trey: Stand Your Ground is the law of the land and was at the heart of this case and defense. I, too, was confused because I thought Zimmerman's not asking for a "Stand Your Ground" hearing meant he wasn't using it as a defense. If he had requested the hearing the whole trial could have been dismissed by the judge based on the Stand Your Ground law if she thought it met the criteria. He chose not to do this, but Stand Your Ground -- the law -- still took away the "duty to retreat" part of self-defense.
If you dig around online, you will see a clearer explanation. But to say this had nothing to do with Stand Your Ground is disingenuous at best, and inaccurate at worst.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/30/17987796-zimmerman-gambles-by-waiving-stand-your-ground-hearing-before-trial?lite
Why Stand Your Ground Is Central To George Zimmerman’s Case After All
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/15/2301621/why-stand-your-ground-is-central-to-george-zimmermans-case-after-all/?mobile=nc
And the MACRO picture is that "Stand Your Ground" wasn't thought up by ALEC, but it was picked up and pushed by them.
ALEC is a shadow government, 99% Republicans that meet and discuss issues and then ALEC writes the legislation for the legislators to introduce.
Some legislators even use their state expense money to pay their dues to ALEC....it's disgusting.
And in terms of Zimmerman, he'd be guilty as hell in any of our civilized states as you cannot initiate a conflict and then shoot someone. He had a clear path to safety..stay in his f'n truck.
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