20. Unfair Sentences: Marissa Alexander & Rachel Hoffman

This week, we talk about two women who experienced unfair sentences. Nathalie tells us the story of Marissa Alexander, a woman who was arrested after firing a warning shot when she was being threatened by her abusive husband. Even though the Florida Stand-Your-Ground law allows self-defense, apparently warning shots are not included in this definition...or may just aren't included if you are a black woman. Rachel talks about the case of Rachel Hoffman, a young woman who acted as a confidential informant for the police after being arrested for possession of marijuana (yes, I know CI's are not *technically* sentenced but it falls in the same vein/it's our podcast so we make the rules here). She was sent to buy ecstasy pills, cocaine, and an unregistered firearm from two men who were convicted felons with a violent past. Rachel was killed with the gun that she was sent to buy, leaving her friends and family devastated. Her parents joined together to fight for Rachel's Law that would give additional protections to confidential informants. Nathalie's Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marissa_Alexander_case https://www.nlg.org/guild-notes/article/marissa-alexander-a-miscarriage-of-justice/ https://www.freemarissanow.org/about-marissa-alexander.html http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fla-woman-marissa-alexander-gets-20-years-for-warning-shot-did-she-stand-her-ground/ https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/Five-times-Florida-s-stand-your-ground-law-sparked-controversy_170229587/ https://ideas.time.com/2012/04/30/where-was-stand-your-ground-for-marissa-alexander/ http://billofrightsinstitute.org/educate/educator-resources/lessons-plans/current-events/stand-your-ground/#:~:text=Florida's%20%E2%80%9CStand-Your-Ground%E2%80%9D%20law%20states%2C%20%E2%80%9C,he%20or%20she%20reasonably%20believes https://www.thedailybeast.com/angela-coreys-overzealous-prosecution-of-marissa-alexander Rachel's Sources The Throwaways, by Sarah Stillman https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/09/03/the-throwaways Irv Hoffman, MA LMHC https://braininst.com/irv-hoffman/ How One Mother Turned Tragedy Into Triumph: The Rachel Morningstar Hoffman Story, by Rex Thomson https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/how-one-mother-turned-tragedy-into-triumph-the-rachel-morningstar-hoffman-story/ Leon County Drug Court http://2ndcircuit.leoncountyfl.gov/resources/CCMU/Leon_County_Drug_Court_Program_Consumer_Expectations.pdf A decade later, Rachel Hoffman’s tragic death helps to make police informants safer, by Jennifer Portman and Karl Etters https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/05/06/10-years-later-rachel-hoffmans-death-makes-police-informants-safer/580595002/ Proposal adds teeth to Rachel’s Law, by Sean Rossman https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/24/proposal-adds-teeth-rachels-law/70402966/ Police are responsible for the murder of my best friend, by Lindsey Kline https://therooster.com/blog/rachel-hoffman-police-informant-responsible-murder-my-best-friend From 2008: The left turn Rachel didn’t make, by Jennifer Portman https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/06/21/2008-left-turn-rachel-hoffman-didnt-make/417894001/ Botched Sting: Killed With Gun She Was Supposed to Buy, by Brianna Ross and Vic Walter https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5450550