How Many Cases Will it Take?

Sick of the Marissa Alexander 20-year mandatory minimum story from Florida yet? Neither are we.

FAMM President Julie Stewart explains why Ms. Alexander's case is an outrage in this new piece over at The Huffington Post.  Sure, crimes involving guns -- especially fired guns -- are scary, but not all of them deserve a 20-year mandatory minimum prison sentence:

If asked to give an example of the type of crime that merits Florida's 20-year sentence for committing a felony with a deadly weapon, one might think of an armed robber who holds up an elderly couple at gunpoint while his partner in crime loots the couple's earthly possessions. Or an unhinged predator who intimidates a petrified convenience store clerk into handing over all of his cash by shooting five bullets at the counter register. These examples would be pretty accurate; robbers make up the second largest category of offenders sentenced to automatic 20-year sentences. Murderers are first.

Marissa Alexander is not a robber or a killer. She is a 31-year-old mother of three who was afraid for her life one August afternoon two years ago. Her husband was threatening to kill her and there was reason to believe he might make good on his threat. He had physically abused her in the past, one time sending her to the hospital. ... Fearing for her safety, she grabbed her legally registered handgun and re-entered her home to retrieve her keys. Her husband continued to threaten her and refused to leave despite her repeated requests. Finally, Ms. Alexander fired one shot from her handgun into the ceiling and her husband left. Ms. Alexander's husband told investigators in a deposition that she never pointed the gun at him or her stepsons and that she probably fired the warning shot because, "I honestly think she just didn't want me to put my hands on her anymore, so she did what she feel (sic) like she have (sic) to do to make sure she wouldn't get hurt."

Ms. Alexander was convicted and faces the 20-year sentence -- and there is nothing the Florida judge can do about it at sentencing.  The judge might as well not even be in the room.  The Florida legislature sentenced Ms. Alexander years ago, before she even entered the criminal justice system.

How many Marissa Alexanders will it take before we reject these foolish mandatory sentencing laws?