When Marissa Alexander went to prison in 2012, she became a symbol of the shortcomings of Florida's stand your ground gun law.
Now that she's free, she's pushing to make it easier to use.
Alexander is a black mother who was a licensed
gun owner when she shot at her estranged husband in 2010, saying she
feared he'd hurt her. The bullet never even grazed the man but she was initially sentenced to up to 20 years in jail
— making headlines just as George Zimmerman was famously walked free
for fatally shooting young Trayvon Martin in the same state.
That perspective put her at the intersection
of national debates on race, sentencing guidelines, and expanding
stand-your-ground laws, which protect people who defend themselves
against attackers.
Alexander, a self-described introvert whose
conviction turned her into an advocate for criminal justice reform, has
since sided with Florida Republicans who want to shift the burden of
proof away from defendants when it comes to stand-your-ground defenses.
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