Marissa Alexander should never have been sentenced to jail for defending herself from an abusive husband by shooting at a wall, injuring nobody. She shouldn’t have to be retried. But at least she has been released on bond and was able to spend Thanksgiving with her family. It was the first time she had seen her family out of jail in three years.
Alexander had to pay $250,000 and will be under home arrest and wearing an ankle monitor until her trial on March 31st 2014.
Of course, Florida could just drop the charges but that would require that Angela Corey see Alexander for what she truly is: a victim and survivor of domestic abuser who dared to defend herself, not a criminal or an instigator of violence.
Melissa Harris Perry spoke her letter to Corey on her show this weekend.
Transcript
To the woman who put Marissa Alexander in jail
There is nothing like being home for the holidays with your loved ones. So I can only imagine that this Thanksgiving is particularly bittersweet for Marissa Alexander, who was granted a special pre-trial release at 10:30 PM on Wednesday – Thanksgiving Eve – after spending more than 1000 days in jail, and barely seeing her youngest child who just recently turned three.
But my letter is not to Marissa. Sis, I am saving that one for when you are finally freed for good. No, my letter this week is to the woman that worked to put you in jail in the first place: Florida State Attorney for the fourth judicial circuit, Angela Corey.
Dear Angela Corey,
It’s me, Melissa.
Angela, there are few times in life that we get second chances to right our wrongs. Well Angela, this is yours.
You have been called a fierce victim’s advocate, so it is way past time that you start acting like it.
Because a woman who was hospitalized in 2009 after being shoved into a bathtub and hitting her head – she is a victim.
A woman whose estranged husband has admitted to abusing all five mothers of his kids – she is his victim.
And when that woman, that victim, who has just recently given birth, fires a warning shot near the man that has cornered her in her home – she is a victim who feels she has no other recourse.
But that is part of the problem, Angela. You never saw Marissa as a victim. You saw Marissa as the aggressor and even justified why the infamous “Stand Your Ground” law was not applied in Marissa’s case.
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