This week marked the two-year anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s killing.
The tragic death sparked a firestorm of national attention on Stand Your Ground laws and race in Florida — especially after Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, was treated with kid gloves by the criminal justice system and ultimately acquitted by a jury.
The Zimmerman case has provided a platform for the invocation of self-defense in subsequent cases, most recently the death of Jordan Davis.
His killer, Michael Dunn, escaped the charge of first-degree murder thanks to a mistrial.
Though many have expressed outrage at the pernicious effect of Stand Your Ground on black people — and especially black youth — Florida appears to be doubling down on its defense of this flawed law.
Just last week, a House committee in the Florida Legislature approved the advancement of legislation seeking to expand the state’s self-defense statutes.
Meanwhile, attention should be drawn toward the next African-American citizen facing judgment as a result of Stand Your Ground laws.
A BLATANT DOUBLE STANDARD
Marissa Alexander, a domestic violence survivor, is being prosecuted for standing her ground against her abuser.
Unfortunately, the reality is that guns and domestic violence are common bedfellows in this country.
In fact, guns kill more than half of all female victims of intimate partner violence.
Minority women are especially at risk of being victims of gun violence.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2010 African-American women were five times more likely to be shot to death than any other group.
Law enforcement’s historic tendency has been to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to African-American women, perhaps because they are perceived as less deserving of protection.
Or because they are perceived as stronger and more aggressive than white women.
As a result, even when African-American women survive domestic violence, they are often re-victimized by a criminal justice system that fails to protect them.
Alexander’s story is a striking example of racial and gender discrimination in the criminal justice system.
ALEXANDER SHOULD REMAIN FREE
Consider the irony here:
When an African-American woman shoots her kitchen ceiling to protect herself from her abuser, she is denied the opportunity to claim self-defense and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
But when grown white men like Zimmerman and Dunn pursue unarmed black teenagers and shoot them dead, they are permitted to claim self-defense and found not guilty.
As the Free Marissa Now Campaign and other advocates for black women have insisted, this reflects a deep social problem.
Alexander’s new trial is set for July 28.
Its outcome could mark a turning point in Florida’s legal system.
Floridians should take action by standing our ground against the deeply flawed and dangerous nature of this law.
State Attorney Angela Corey should immediately drop the charges against Marissa Alexander.
Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law should not be applied in a way that punishes domestic violence victims and undermines justice.
How much more must Alexander endure before she receives justice?
■ Max Tsoy, Charlotte Cassel and Dan Kinney are law students in the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law.
■ Their instructor is Caroline Bettinger-López, associate professor of Clinical Legal Education and director of the Human Rights Clinic.