stand your ground
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States Are Quietly Resurrecting a Law That Makes It Easier to Kill Blacks
On July 12, 2013, the Honorable Judge Debra S. Nelson addressed the jury in the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman in Florida and read her instructions to the jury (pdf). They included the following: In deciding whether George Zimmerman was justified in the use of deadly force, you must judge him by the circumstances by…
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Marissa Alexander Speaks: The Current System Is ‘a Mess’
Unfortunately, Marissa Alexander of Jacksonville, Fla., is a living embodiment of the vicious discrepancies of our criminal-justice system—both against black defendants and against women. In late January, Alexander was finally able to be done with her debt to the state—one she paid for with years of her life and more than $10,000 in cash (in…
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No, Sir, You Cannot Shoot and Kill a Guy Because He’s Texting During Movie Previews
A Florida judge has denied the request of a retired police officer who fatally shot a man in a movie theater to have the charges against him dismissed under the state’s “Stand your ground” law. NPR reports that 74-year-old Curtis Reeves Jr. was with his wife at a showing of Lone Survivor in Tampa in…
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Why "I Hope He Whooped The Shit Out Of George Zimmerman" Is The Blackest Thing I've Ever Heard This Week
1. Because although Melissa Harris-Perry said “hope,” its said in the same spirit of Cedric The Entertainer’s “wish.” Remember, she gave this speech at Cornell University. If she gave that speech at Cornell’s House of Naturals in East St. Louis instead, I’m 99.9% certain “I hope he whooped the shit out of George Zimmerman” would have…