Marissa Alexander Appears On CNN

Mainstream media focuses on Stand Your Ground case

News conglomerate CNN has decided to shift its focus on the controversial Stand Your Ground law case surrounding Florida woman Marissa Alexander.

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Alexander is currently sitting behind bars after shooting a gun out of self-defense against her abusive husband. The husband was not shot and his abusive past is well documented, but Alexander is still the one getting the short end of the stick. 

"This is my life I'm fighting for," she told CNN in an interview on Anderson Coopers 360 Tuesday night. "If you do everything to get on the right side of the law, and it is a law that does not apply to you, where do you go from there?"

The Stand Your Ground law has come under scrutiny in the weeks following the killing of Trayvon Martin. Martin's killer, George Zimmerman, was not arrested the night that he shot Trayvon because he claimed self-defense and was protected by the Stand Your Ground law that says you are allowed to protect yourself by any means necessary if you feel your life is in danger. Zimmerman is not black.

However, in the cases of George McNeil and Alexander, who defended themselves in similar fashion, the law has not protected them from jail time. 

"There's a double standard with stand your ground," says Isaiah Rumlin, president of the Jacksonville Chapter of the NAACP. "The law is applied differently between African-Americans and whites who are involved in these types of cases." 

Alexander's attorney, Kevin M. Cobbin, is fighting for a new trial. The original hearing has been re-scheduled for next week. If the motion is denied, Alexander will receive a mandatory 20-year sentence with no possibility of parole.

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