Glimmer of good news in that f'ed up state of Florida

[HomerJS]

Marissa Alexander has been released from prison. I wish her good luck with the rest of her life and the opposite with legislators and law enforcement in that state, responsible.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/us-usa-florida-selfdefense-idUSKBN0L02NQ20150127

 

[Victorian Gray]

Marissa Alexander has been released from prison. I wish her good luck with the rest of her life and the opposite with legislators and law enforcement in that state, responsible.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/27/us-usa-florida-selfdefense-idUSKBN0L02NQ20150127

But she still has this to deal with:

"She also agreed to serve two years of house arrest, wearing an ankle monitor. She will be allowed to work, attend classes and take her children to school and medical appointments."

So her life is still being screwed with. And she'll have the burden of her criminal record as well. An incredibly sad situation.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

I.e., the women who blindly fired a gun into a room where her ex-husband and 2 sons were standing and barely missed hitting one son gets out.

 

[JEDIYoda]

.e., the women who blindly fired a gun into a room where her ex-husband and 2 sons were standing and barely missed hitting one son gets out.

your point??

 

[unixwizzard]

Alexander cried as she thanked her supporters, sharing plans to continue her education in order to work as a paralegal.

Can a convicted felon legally work as a paralegal?

I'm pretty sure most employers will not care about the circumstances of her case, all they will see is that she is a convicted felon.

Getting into an ABA accredited program may be difficult. Getting financial aid seems possible since all they seem to care about is drugs and sex crimes. Internship may prove to be a problem - background checks and all that. If she makes this far and does graduate, all she has to do be certified by the state and hope none of the places she applies to requires her to be a certified notary public.

Hopefully she can somehow get her criminal record expunged, or better yet she receives a pardon, otherwise I don't see her becoming a paralegal anytime soon.

 

[HomerJS]

Can a convicted felon legally work as a paralegal?

I'm pretty sure most employers will not care about the circumstances of her case, all they will see is that she is a convicted felon.

Getting into an ABA accredited program may be difficult. Getting financial aid seems possible since all they seem to care about is drugs and sex crimes. Internship may prove to be a problem - background checks and all that. If she makes this far and does graduate, all she has to do be certified by the state and hope none of the places she applies to requires her to be a certified notary public.

Hopefully she can somehow get her criminal record expunged, or better yet she receives a pardon, otherwise I don't see her becoming a paralegal anytime soon.

She would have had a chance at pardon if Charlie Christ won the election

 

[werepossum]

I agree that's good news, but the new deal seems to be just about right to me.

 

[shira]

Alexander pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault for firing a shot in the direction of her husband, Rico Gray, during a 2010 argument while two of his children were also in the house.

I'm not at all up on the details of this case, but if the quoted description above is reasonably accurate, then Alexander was totally in the wrong.

It doesn't matter if her husband was an abusive asshole. If at the time the shots were fired she (a) wasn't being physically attacked and (b) didn't reasonably fear for her imminent physical safety, then she definitely broke the law.

 

[HomerJS]

I'm not at all up on the details of this case, but if the quoted description above is reasonably accurate, then Alexander was totally in the wrong.

It doesn't matter if her husband was an abusive asshole. If at the time the shots were fired she (a) wasn't being physically attacked and (b) didn't reasonably fear for her imminent physical safety, then she definitely broke the law.

A person was arrested before for a physical attack threatens to attack you again? Sounds like a good reason.

When other people can chase down a fleeing criminal and use SYG as a defense, doesn't sound right to me

 

[thraashman]

A person was arrested before for a physical attack threatens to attack you again? Sounds like a good reason.

When other people can chase down a fleeing criminal and use SYG as a defense, doesn't sound right to me

Those other people robbed an old MAN (assuming you're referring to that), in this case we're just talking about a WOMAN. We all know they don't matter.

 

[shira]

A person was arrested before for a physical attack threatens to attack you again? Sounds like a good reason.

When other people can chase down a fleeing criminal and use SYG as a defense, doesn't sound right to me

Suppose I physically attacked you a month ago. Now I see you in a bar, and tell you "I'm going to jump out at you from a dark alley and pound your ass again."

Note that there is no reasonable expectation of an imminent attack. Yet you think the person being threatened can legally pull out his gun and fire warning shots? Really?

 

[werepossum]

I'm not at all up on the details of this case, but if the quoted description above is reasonably accurate, then Alexander was totally in the wrong.

It doesn't matter if her husband was an abusive asshole. If at the time the shots were fired she (a) wasn't being physically attacked and (b) didn't reasonably fear for her imminent physical safety, then she definitely broke the law.

She'd argue that she did reasonably fear for her imminent physical safety. In any case, clearly she was not twenty years wrong, much less sixty. Any body of law that would allow her to legally shoot him to death but not legally draw a gun or fire a warning shot (not that I'm necessarily agreeing that's what happened here; I'd say she fired a shot that missed) is pretty fucked.

 

[Fern]

I question if she could have gotten off with a self-defense claim had she shot and killed him.

She left the house, went to her vehicle, grabbed her gun and went back into the house and then fired the shot. I'm too lazy to look it up again, but IIRC "stand your ground" laws don't allow that if the person you shoot lives in the house.

Fern

 

[RampantAndroid]

A person was arrested before for a physical attack threatens to attack you again? Sounds like a good reason.

When other people can chase down a fleeing criminal and use SYG as a defense, doesn't sound right to me

Remind me here, but...

She went out to her car that was parked inside the garage, claimed the garage door wouldn't open (no obstruction found), got gun, WENT BACK IN and fired a warning shot that went through a room A BABY WAS IN.

If you fire a warning shot, you were not in fear of your life. EVERYONE firing a warning shot should be jailed for reckless endangerment. A .45 or a 9mm round can clear 8 walls more or less. AKA, you could kill the person in the house next door.

 

[Venix]

A person was arrested before for a physical attack threatens to attack you again? Sounds like a good reason.

Four months after the shooting incident, Alexander violated the court's order to avoid contact with her ex-husband. She confronted him at his home and punched him in the eye, then lied to police about the attack.

That's why she was offered a three-year prison sentence plea deal instead of probation, and it certainly contributed to the jury convicting her in under 15 minutes. The 20 year mandatory minimum sentence was absurdly excessive, but it doesn't make her an innocent victim or even a particularly sympathetic figure. She could have easily killed Gray, one of his children, or even a neighbor.

 

[werepossum]

I question if she could have gotten off with a self-defense claim had she shot and killed him.

She left the house, went to her vehicle, grabbed her gun and went back into the house and then fired the shot. I'm too lazy to look it up again, but IIRC "stand your ground" laws don't allow that if the person you shoot lives in the house.

Fern

Good points.

Remind me here, but...

She went out to her car that was parked inside the garage, claimed the garage door wouldn't open (no obstruction found), got gun, WENT BACK IN and fired a warning shot that went through a room A BABY WAS IN.

If you fire a warning shot, you were not in fear of your life. EVERYONE firing a warning shot should be jailed for reckless endangerment. A .45 or a 9mm round can clear 8 walls more or less. AKA, you could kill the person in the house next door.

Agreed - but twenty years?

 

[Matt1970]

I question if she could have gotten off with a self-defense claim had she shot and killed him.

She left the house, went to her vehicle, grabbed her gun and went back into the house and then fired the shot. I'm too lazy to look it up again, but IIRC "stand your ground" laws don't allow that if the person you shoot lives in the house.

Fern

And probably doesn't allow you to actively seek out the person you are supposedly standing your ground against. The duration of her sentence seems excessive but her conviction seems just.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Agreed - but twenty years?

I'd be happy with 5 and felon status (as in, banned from ever touching a firearm again.) She can live with pepper spray for defense...

 

[werepossum]

I'd be happy with 5 and felon status (as in, banned from ever touching a firearm again.) She can live with pepper spray for defense...

Agreed.