Mother Serving 20 Years for Firing ‘Warning Shot’ Gets New Chance at Freedom

donderdag 26 september 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Kiri Blakeley 2 hours ago

Marissa Alexander, the young mother who was sentenced to a 20-year jail term for firing a "warning shot" near her ex-husband in what she claimed was self-defense, has been ordered to receive a new trial. Alexander became the subject of much support after George Zimmerman was not arrested after killing Trayvon Martin because of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" defense. He later went to trial, but was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Many thought it was unfair that Zimmerman did not go to jail for killing an unarmed black teen, while a black woman was in jail for not killing anyone. Now she might have her shot at going free.

It all started when Marissa and her ex-husband, Rico Gray, began arguing in their Florida home. Gray had accused her of cheating and questioning whether he was the father of their 1-week-old child. Rico reportedly had a history of abusing Marissa, who had once been hospitalized at his hands. She filed a restraining order.

During the argument, Gray ran out to her car and retrieved a gun, which she was licensed to carry. She returned to the house, carrying the gun at her side. She claimed that when Rico saw it, he charged her and threatened to kill her, so she fired a shot, missing Gray and his two young sons, who were also in the house.

A judge dismissed Marissa's "Stand Your Ground" contention because she had originally left the house -- which ended any potential deadly conflict. Marissa, however, claims she couldn't get out of the garage and had no choice but to re-enter the house. (Even after the shooting, Marissa and Gray were still in contact and had yet another physical confrontation, this time with Gray ending up the battered one.)

The judge also said he was stymied by the state's mandatory "10-20-Life" sentencing rules -- in this case, the 20 years that Marissa received. Now, however, the judge says that the jury was not instructed correctly -- that it wasn't that Marissa had to prove she acted in self-defense, but that the prosecution had to prove she did not.

Yeah, it gets kind of tricky.

I'm not so sure things that things will go better for Marissa this time -- but it does seem unfair that in a world where people routinely get off with almost nothing for vehicular manslaughter, Marissa is serving a life sentence for a bullet that killed no one. Especially considering that she had ample reason to be scared of Gray.

I'm not saying she doesn't deserve something -- but 20 years is excessive. If she does get another chance at freedom, I hope she doesn't blow it by getting back into that toxic relationship!

Do you think she deserves another trial?

Image via Drpippa/YouTube

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Teens Who Stabbed Mother With Sword and Planned to Eat Her Liver May Not Be to Blame for Their Actions

zaterdag 21 september 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Lisa Fogarty 19 hours ago

There are no words to describe how gruesome and disturbing this story is -- whether you're the mom of a teen or just a human being who possesses a healthy amount of anxiety about today's youth. Two young teenage boys -- we're talking 13 and 14 years of age -- were arrested this week after allegedly attacking one of their mothers with a sword, stabbing her, and then holding what must have seemed like a rational discussion to them at the time about eating her liver. The boys, whose names haven't been released because of their ages, left mom sprawled out on her bed bleeding to death beside two knives and a sword with a bent handle.

And the story doesn't end there.  

They fled the scene in an SUV that belonged to the other teen's dad and proceeded to take a wild ride through the streets of Spokane, Washington. They crashed the car into the side of a trailer home, broke into a different home to hide, and -- because all this isn't enough crazy for one day -- somehow found hammers that they chucked at the windows, doors, and walls of the house, raking up $2,000 in damages. 

A police dog was able to track down the boys. They are currently in juvenile detention facing second degree assault charges, as well as charges for taking a motor vehicle without possession, hit-and-run, burglary, and malicious mischief. The teen's mom, thankfully, is in the hospital in stable condition. 

Before you say, yep, lock them up and throw away the key -- two fewer delinquents on the street is good news for my family (thoughts that, trust me, ran through my mind) -- it isn't such a black and white situation. The boys were under the influence of something one teen called "blue pills." The son claims he would have never hurt his mother or committed these other actions while sober and I believe him. It's unclear what blue pills are that he's talking about. Bath salts? Some other type of amphetamine, maybe? And just as a side note: what the hell is going on that he doesn't even know what he's ingesting? But the absolutely off-the-wall and psychotic deeds these two boys committed sound like the actions performed by someone who is delusional -- maybe even hallucinating. 

I'm not excusing the boys' behavior and I do believe they should have known better, but I feel that at such a young age, they would benefit more from counseling and drug rehabilitation than from a long stint in juvie. Get these children serious psychiatric help and make them pay back every cent in damages that they owe, but don't use prison as a final solution.

What do you want to see happen to these young teens who performed ghastly crimes while under the influence of drugs? 

Image via Albion Europe ApS/Flickr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lisa Fogarty

is a former old-timey print journalist who lives in Brooklyn with her husband and toddler girl. She still carries a notebook everywhere and is always on the lookout for tasty vegan food and blouses with collars that will finally put the Peter Pan out on its (adorable) tush.

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Kids Sang 'Ding-Dong the Witch Is Dead' After 'Evil Obituary' Mother Died

zaterdag 14 september 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Nicole Fabian-Weber Yesterday at 5:20 PM

By now you've probably heard about the kids who wrote the scathing -- and I do mean scathing -- obituary about their "evil" mother, Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick. "She is survived by her 6 of 8 children whom she spent her lifetime torturing in every way possible. While she neglected and abused her small children, she refused to allow anyone else to care or show compassion towards them" is a sweet, little excerpt from the shocking write-up. The kids -- all six of them -- agreed as a group that this was the lasting impression they wanted to leave of their mother on the world. And, needless to say, it's caused some controversy.

Some feel this was just ... too much. They're saying that, no matter how cruel a person is, you should try to find some positive after they're gone. But the kids don't want to hear it. In fact, they just admitted to singing "ding dong the witch is dead" upon hearing their mother died.

And when you hear about their story, it's kind of hard to argue with them.

In the 1960s, six of the eight Johnson-Reddick kids were admitted to an orphanage in Nevada. They lived there until they were 18, but would visit their mother on the weekends, where they were lined up and beaten with a steel-tipped belt. Apparently, the reason the kids were forced to spend time with their mother despite her abuse was because, at the time, Nevada law stated that parents' rights were more important than those of their children. When they got out of the orphanage, the kids contacted a state senator and lobbied for a change in the law, which went through in 1987.

The horror stories go on and on. In addition to the physical and verbal abuse they endured, they suffered from emotional abuse -- they were forced to sleep on the floor while their mother ran a prostitution business out of her home, right in front of their eyes. It's just heartbreaking, the things these kids went through. Their mother truly sounds like a terrible, terrible person, who seriously screwed her children up. It's terribly sad that this happened, and if this is Johnson-Reddick's kids' means of catharsis, who are we judge? They can't get their childhoods back. Let's at least give them this.

What do you think of this?

Image via Reno Gazette Journal

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Trayvon Martin Has Forced Me to Face My Biggest Fear as the Mother of an African American Boy

vrijdag 19 juli 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Ericka Sóuter 16 hours ago

George Zimmerman's trial may be over, but the wounds left in its wake are still here. What has happened is especially painful to think about as a parent of an African American boy. It's unbelievable that someone can just walk away scot-free after killing a young, unarmed teen. Shocking. Chilling. Heartbreaking. Though, more so than the not guilty verdict itself is what the conclusion of this trial tells the world. Perhaps no one put it better than Trayvon Martin's own mother.

Speaking out for the first time, Sybrina Fulton told NBC's Today:

Sending a terrible message to other little black and brown boys -- that you can't walk fast, you can't walk slow. So what do they do? I mean, how do you get home without people knowing or either assuming that you're doing something wrong? Trayvon wasn't doing anything wrong.

More from The Stir: Trayvon Martin's Mom Forced to Listen to Her Son Dying in Court (VIDEOS)

It really is a frightening reality that few of us know how to prepare our children for. So what are we parents to do? My husband and I have given this a lot of thought in recent days. As soon as our son, now 5, is a few years older, we will have to tell him that there are times he will be judged unfairly because of the way he looks. That because he is black, his life could be put in danger even if he has done nothing wrong. We don't want to terrify him, but we can't have him walking around blind to the realities of this world. Just the thought of this conversation overwhelms me with sadness. 

But let's be honest here. It's not just wannabe vigilantes like George Zimmerman that pose a threat. Police profiling certainly can play a dangerous part too. There have been numerous cases of cops stopping or harassing black men who turn out to be innocent of any wrongdoing. When I was growing up and even today, friends and family members called it, "Driving while black." It's the notion that because of your skin color, you are more likely to be pulled over. It happens to everyone -- doctors, lawyers, even politicians of color. Years ago, a family friend and his son were stopped by police and beaten so badly he was hospitalized for days. It was a case of mistaken identity.

Reportedly, Lavar Burton takes his hat off and says "Sir" whenever he is pulled over by the cops. But is this capitulation for the sake of survival really fair? Of course not. I have a hard time accepting that I should have to teach my son to treat a racist with reverence just so that he may live. That is just infuriating. That whole concept is just infuriating.

It's incredible to me that we are still asking the world to judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. Martin Luther King, Jr. must be rolling over in his grave. We have come so far in many ways, but are still far behind in ones that matter. This just feels like a game we cannot win. I am raising my child to be a hardworking, educated, ethical human being. Sadly, that just won't be what some will see.

What will you tell your children about what happened to Trayvon Martin?

Image via T. Ron Scott/Flickr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ericka Sóuter

is a veteran pop culture and celeb news writer. That experience boils down to two things: she knows way too much about the Kardashians and she dominates on Trivial Pursuit's arts and entertainment questions.

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Waitress Writes Must-See Note to Breastfeeding Mother on Restaurant Receipt (PHOTO)

donderdag 18 juli 2013

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AppId is over the quota

I believe breastfeeding in public shouldn't be an issue. We all eat in public so why can't a baby? Though far too many breastfeeding moms and babies have felt the daggers shooting from people's eyes when they disapprove or feel it's an obscene act. That's why when someone is thankful for feeding a baby that liquid gold, we have to celebrate.

Jackie Johnson-Smith was eating at Fong's in Des Moines, Iowa, when her baby got hungry. She was breastfeeding him and he was quite fussy so after a little while, Jackie went to the car with her infant while her husband took care of the check. What happened next made her speechless and emotional. And I got emotional as well. I reached out to Jackie and she shared the details.

Jackie said on her Facebook page that she breastfed three children "in countless of places both pleasant and unpleasant, discreetly and out in the open." Like many of us who have nursed our kids in public, she has received many looks and stares of the negative variety, but what happened at Fong's the other night overshadowed all of that. 

The server at Fong's, a woman named Bodi, wrote:

I bought one of your pizzas. Please thank your wife for breastfeeding!

Thank you, Bodi, for being accepting. Thank you, Bodi, for honoring a child's right to eat whenever and wherever that child is hungry. Thank you.

When I emailed Jackie, she said that she hopes something like this could help breastfeeding mothers feel more acceptance and more comfortable when nursing in public. I'm a mother of twins and I will admit I never felt comfortable nursing both my babies at the same time. I wish I didn't cower to society's view that breasts are sexual all the time. But I did nurse my babies in public, just one at a time.

I asked Jackie if she had been discriminated against for nursing in public and her views on how society treats breastfeeding mothers. She responded:

I have definitely been made to feel uncomfortable and unwanted. With my first nursling I rarely breastfed in public. I avoided it with all costs, nursing in our car right before entering an establishment and disappearing back to the car to nurse again. All out of pure societal fear. Thankfully I gained more confidence with each new baby. Having said that though I have encountered countless stares and obvious looks of distaste and uncomfortableness. I once overheard a woman mentioning how there were nursing rooms available in the mall while I sat near her nursing my son with a cover on. I have had people leave the room because they were so uncomfortable with me nursing in their presence.

I know there are more and more nursing mothers every day, but do we see them nursing in public? We either don't or they're so skilled you have no idea they're even nursing. Society has scared these mothers to be afraid to nurse in public. Will they be the next woman to be asked to stop or leave? Will she get confronted by a stranger who disapproves of how or where she is feeding her child? Nursing mothers are often seen as self-righteous as we band together. We're often misunderstood. Do we think breastfeeding is best? Of course we do, but it isn't a we're better than you thing, it's very much an equality thing. I would never want to make a woman feel inferior or uncomfortable about her parenting choices. Formula feeders can feed their babies anytime, any place. No one is offended by a bottle. No one thinks our babies shouldn't be fed either, but they are often quick to let us know that they want us to take it somewhere else where they don't have to see it. It is our right and our choice, yet we're always scrutinized for it. Society has made breasts sexual and people cannot cope with normalizing them. It still astonishes me how something so natural and rooted in nature can be so construed by society. Society doesn't bat an eyelash at any other mammal nursing her young. It's often ooed and ahh'd about even at zoos and petting farms. But ... women don't get that same support.

What happened to me was special and women are clinging to it because they're searching for the same affirmations. ... I don't need a pat on the back to feed my child, but that pat felt SO good. And I didn't even realize I may have been longing for it for far longer than I could have realized.

Jackie found Bodi's husband's on Facebook and wrote him a thank you note to pass along to her. She wants to return to Fong's to thank her in person as well. Jackie shared that note with me:

Please thank your wife for me. I should have re-entered the restaurant and thanked her in person. I still should. I didn't come from a breastfeeding family. I myself was formula fed as was common place through my family. My breastfeeding journey has been deeply personal with endless woes and triumphs. Your wife touched me in a place in my heart that is so tender, so raw and rooted and so very proud. Unbeknownst to her at the time it was also my 33rd birthday. I felt an amazing sense of belonging and optimism that day because of your wife's beautiful sentiment that is still carrying me days later. I couldn't even fathom two nights ago how many people my post would and could touch. Women across the country are tearing up and being touched by it because breastfeeding is so innately personal and society has made it so vulnerable. The widespread sharing of it is just a true testament of not only the need for normalizing breastfeeding and making breastfeeding mothers feel welcome and comfortable nursing in public, but in turn the need for women supporting and empowering one another.

That is exactly it ... women do need to support each other. No matter what. Bodi's small gesture is huge. It's refreshing. And beautiful. We all need to support and empower each other more.

And Jackie, you are a beautiful woman inside and out. Happy birthday.

What do you think of Bodi's note on the check? Have you ever been commended or chastised for breastfeeding in public?

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