Saturday, December 20, 2014

Campaign to Free Marissa Alexander Hits the Road in January

Supporters of Marissa Alexander, the African American mother of three, who was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot to stop her husband from committing an act of domestic violence, will depart from the Bay Area in January on a two-week cross-country trip to raise awareness about Alexander's situation. Activists say the trip aims to spark a national discussion about Alexander's case and build a mass movement to get her out of the criminal justice system. Their destination is Jacksonville, Florida, where Alexander will have a hearing on January 27th that could get her released on probation. But under that scenario she would still be under home detention for two years. Alexander's supporters say this is not good enough and that they won't stop their efforts until justice is fully served. KPFA's Andrew Klein has more.