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Watch the videos about CeCe McDonald and Marissa Alexander. Both cases involve a lack of protection under the law and a severe double standard that is present in the criminal justice system. In your blog post 1) discuss the various elements of their case and 2) how it relates to what you've read and learned in class thus far and 3) what you think needs to happen in order for other people to not experience this level of injustice.
Blog Requirements
Post one original post each week along with a response to one student. Your original post should be at least 200 words, your response should be no less than 50 words. Post your original post by midnight (11:59 p.m.) on Friday of this week and respond to two other students by midnight on Sunday of this week (11:59 p.m.).
53 Comments
Jontae Henry
3/2/2016 03:45:30 pm
CeCe McDonald Case is about a black trans-woman who went from male to female who killed her attacker. The summary of the whole story is that she and her two friends was walking to a store and they walked pass a bar where a men with a swastika tattoo started saying homophobic language to her. He then processed to attack her and she use her scissors to protect herself. The court tried to give her 80 years they didn’t view her actions as self-defense and then they gave her a deal for 3 years in a male prison. Of course she took the deal but people in American wanted justice for her. A very important woman named Lavernce Cox teamed up with this organizations youth breakout to get her out of jail. I think the craziest thing about this case is that the court didn’t see her case as a hate crime nor did they look at the guy she killed pre conviction, which were physical assault.
Yesenia Briseno
3/3/2016 02:33:43 pm
I agree with you Jontae that it’s crazy that the information wasn’t handled correctly or fairly. I think that the only reason the attorney told her she would face more time in jail if she didn’t accept the 3 years in prison was to scare her. I think that they tried to scare her and in a way threaten her so she could accept prison time. I agree with you also that the media believed that Marissa would not receive the same treatment. I think that in both cases if they were white they would have received actual justice.
Leonardo Barajas
3/3/2016 02:04:26 pm
this relates to what i learned in class because it shows how the government is being unfair to African Americans. CeCe got 80 of jail time just for protecting herself from a WHITE MAN.This is unfair because if it was a white lady that killed a white man, she wouldn't get as much jail time or she probably wouldn't get any jail time, just because she was white. Marissa Alexander went to jail because she shot a warning shot so her husband can stay away from her because her husband was gonna beat her. Marissa shouldn't have gone to jail for that. She didn't hurt her husband, she just warned him. I wonder why they don't look at the case carefully. Im surprised they didn't do anything to the husband, her husband should of got in trouble instead of her. If this happens to other people i think they should make the people who look at the cases, make them actually see the case clearly and see who's fault is it and who did the right thing.
Ana Guerrero
3/3/2016 02:38:49 pm
I agree that it was probably based on their race since they were not tried fairly. How would people make others see the cases clearly? How would people make sure the cases are fair?
giovana lozano
3/7/2016 07:27:10 am
I think a way to make cases like these fair would be to use the opinion of the public and have a diverse jury. Also since people still have prejudices, the judge and jury should not be able to see the defendant but only be able to read the case and all the facts.
Emily Madrigal
3/6/2016 11:17:20 pm
i agree that race has to do with how the judge sentence both Cece and Marissa. Although Cece was just defending her self with those scissors and killed the neo nazzi man she got sentenced for a very long time. They gave Marissa a dead end choice and was going to go to prison either way, she had no other choice.
Juan
3/3/2016 02:04:43 pm
Cece Mcdonald and Marissa Alexander are both trans gender woman. In Ceces case she was attacked and brutalized by a white man with a swastika sign. For her own protection Cece killed the white man who was attacking her. She was charged with murder and got a 80yr life sentence. Meanwhile in Marissa Alexanders case her husband was hitting her, she ran to her garage grabbed the gun her husband said "I am going to kill you" so that is when she shot at the ceiling to scare him. In the end she went to jail for 20 years. This relates to some things that I've read like about racism and police brutality because most police officers target mostly those who are colored or because of gender. I think what needs to happen in my opinion is people should start protesting for a change and that it's not fair that every colored person is targeted.
Jontae' Henry
3/3/2016 02:25:57 pm
Juan, Marissa Alexander isn't a trans-women at all and she never said that she was going to shoot him she sent a warning shoot off under the "stand her law" policy which says one can’t get tried if they are in a positions where they must protect their self from harm. Cece Mcdonald wasn’t sentence with 80 years she was tried with 80 years but took the deal which means she pleaded guilty and was sentence with 3 years but Lavernce Cox the other trans-women and others help get her out because it was a hate crime, but beside that mix up good job getting the information, do you believe that Marissa Alexander should be granted the "stand your ground" law and if so why or why not?
pelos peludos
3/3/2016 02:27:33 pm
only one is trans
Johann Romo
3/3/2016 02:28:49 pm
Hello Juan,
Juan
3/3/2016 02:30:36 pm
yes i watched the video!
Leonardo Barajas
3/3/2016 02:31:05 pm
yeah Juan, you made a mistake sir
Angelica C.
3/3/2016 02:16:47 pm
Cece McDonald was a black trans woman who was walking to the grocery with her friends and they passed a bar while Dean Schmitz and his friends were exiting it. They started calling McDonald and her friends racist and transphobic slurs. McDonald and her friends were walking away but they followed them into the street and a member of the party, Molly Flaherty, started a fight by smashing a bottle McDonald’s face, which required 11 stitches. McDonald, scared for her life, got a pair of scissors out of her bag. Schmitz was taunting her and ran at her, thus stabbing himself in the chest with the scissors. McDonald went to court for this case and her lawyer tried to say that McDonald was just trying to defend herself. They also tried to say she was encountered with a hate crime, due to the group’s remarks and Schmitz’s past criminal offenses and the fact that he was part of a white supremacy group. This relates to what I’ve learned because if the situation was reversed and Cece was killed Schmitz probably wouldn’t have jailed. In addition, if Cece was white instead of black there would have been more sympathy in the jury as they would have related to her more. With Marissa Alexander the situation was that she shot a warning shot when her previously abusive husband charged into her house to hurt her more. However she was put in jail on the offense that it was assault with a deadly weapon. This wasn’t fair because first off she didn’t hurt anyone and secondly she was just standing her ground. This was controversial because the year earlier George Zimmerman got off after shooting Trayvon Martin, even when he posed no threat, on the idea that he was just standing his ground. I think it would be a long process to change the system so that it would be fair, but one thing that I think we need to try to enforce more is the neutrality of judges and lawyers. They are often biased and I think there needs to be more tests to make sure they aren’t being bribed or anything that will change the outcome. In addition I think we should have more people of color on juries because white people are often racist by default unless they’ve learned not to be, so if there’s a person of color being tried they will not see them as equals. Although these minorities could be prejudice against other races they will feel connected to any minority being tried as they have been through similar oppression.
Melissa Sotelo
3/3/2016 02:25:37 pm
I agree with what you’re saying about how judges and lawyers shouldn’t be so biased. After all they are the ones making the big decision of whether or not someone gets justice or not. I’m just wondering what you mean by having more tests, like lie detector tests? If so, that does sound like a good way to reduce the chances of having biased lawyers and judges.
Jontae Henry
3/3/2016 02:38:03 pm
Angelica I agree with everything your saying but I wonder how can we have more non-whites on the jury when a lot of non-white people who have felonies and it prevention them from going to jury? What should we do about this? And how can we create a law that isn’t violating out rights?
Adriana Bolanos
3/4/2016 05:17:52 pm
I agree that more people of color should be on juries. White people in most cases understand other white people and have a wrong idea of people in color because of their backgrounds. I think that if there were people of color on juries, they would identify themselves with the defendant just like white people with other white people do.
Angelica C.
3/6/2016 11:26:01 pm
Hi everyone,
Melissa Sotelo
3/3/2016 02:19:06 pm
Cece Mcdonald was a trans black woman simply walking to the grocery store in Minnesota and as she was walking past a bar she got attacked by homophobic man named Dean Schmitz, a neo-nazi man who was on many drugs. The only way she could get out of this situation was to defend herself, and by doing this she stabbed the man with the only thing she could find in her bag, a pair of scissors. This is very obvious to be a hate crime but the jury was too oblivious to see that she was a victim, not the primary attacker. She did not mean to inflict any violence, but she needed to do what she had to do to to get out of this situation alive. The man ended up dying and she had two choices: go to jail as a victim for 81 years, or plead guilty and go to jail for 3 years. The worst part was that although she identified as a woman, they sent her to a men’s jail. She ended up serving only 19 months after a group of people made a viral video speaking on the criminalization of the lgbt community.
Yesenia Briseno
3/3/2016 02:43:50 pm
I agree with you Melissa that it was unfair that she was sent to an all men jail even though he identified as a woman. I think that is problematic because there is no consideration of how comfortable Cece would have felt in that jail. I also think it's unfair because there are many men who are transphobic and they could have killed and possibly attacked Cece while she did her time. Basically Cece was put in a dangerous position by being placed in an all men jail.
Yesenia Briseno
3/3/2016 02:21:34 pm
The case about Cece McDonald takes place in Minnesota she is a black trans woman. On June 5th 2011 Cece and some of her friends were walking past a bar, and a group of white people were throwing many hateful remarks at them. They threw racist, homophobic and transphobic slurs at Cece and her friends. Cece was hit by a bar glass that cut open her face she had to get 11 stitches because she was attacked by a white person. Cece tried to walk away from the scene due to the intense conflict and fight they had gotten into.Dean Schmitz was one of the white men harassing Cece and her friends he even followed them. Schmitz was stabbed because Cece grabbed a pair of fabric scissors from her bag as an act of self defense. There was no consideration whatsoever on the information presented to the court. The attorney did not see Cece’s action as self defense. They didn’t take into consideration that her attacker had records of confrontation with the law, and that the day he attacked Cece he was strongly under several substances.Schmitz was intoxicated by alcohol and was on meth as well. The case of Marissa Alexander involves her taking a registered gun and firing a warning shot. Marissa Alexander’s husband came into her house while she was in the bathroom. The husband forcibly opened the door choked her, pushed her was really aggressive up to the point that Marissa passed out. Her husband has a record of being violent with several of his baby momma’s ,he stated so himself he laid hands on each and every one of the women except for one. Her husband got custody over her child even after he said he would kill Marissa. The stand your ground law did not apply to her based on the attorney’s decision yet it applied to George Zimmerman.The cases were unfair and there was not much consideration of the actual situation. The way information was taken in was ridiculous because it was not seen as enough. Based on what I’ve learned so far in class both cases are hate crimes. As well both cases had lack of justice and both had to do with discrimination due to both women not being white. What I believe needs to happen in order for people not to experience this level of injustice is for there to be strict background checks on judges. Judges can be racist and can be let of with many things because if you have a degree you’re suit for the job. What also needs to happen for people not face this level of discrimination is that it needs to discussed. People need to be educated on trans lives and violence and so much more ,so they become aware of the world and not become ignorant.
Melissa Sotelo
3/3/2016 02:33:30 pm
It’s so crazy how the “stand your ground’ law was applied to George Zimmerman but not to Marissa Alexander. LIke, George killed an unarmed boy while Marissa only fired a warning shot, harming no one, yet she ended up going to jail for 20 years and he ended yo serving no time at all. It makes no sense.
Adriana Bolanos
3/4/2016 05:08:18 pm
I agree that there should be background checks on judges so they will not make an extremely biased jurisdiction. I think that this will actually help decrease injustices so they will not put people on probation or in prison just because of their race, sexual orientation, and gender. This way, authorities can help promote equality instead of overlooking it.
Angelica C.
3/6/2016 10:32:01 pm
I agree with you Yesenia that these cases did not take into account the reality of the situation involved. I also agree with you that we need to start talking and educating more people about trans lives. For example in class we talked about how when someone tells a friend that they are transgendered their friend might feel betrayed. I think a way we could change this is have more discussion on how being cisgender shouldn't be everyone's assumed identity. What are some other ways you think people could teach on this topic ?
Johann Romo
3/3/2016 02:25:14 pm
CeCe Mcdonald is an African American that had a transgender. The whole issue started when her and her friend were walking down the street minding their own business when she got confronted by a man who which was a Neo Nazi. The man started to attack both of them fighting for her life she searched into her purse to find something to defend herself with she then found a pair of scissors. She then stabbed the man which later died. The court didn’t see her actions as self defense they gave her a sentence of 80 years, but then they made a deal with her and shorten her sentence to 3 years. She was sent to a all mens prison. She later got released 19 months later.
Ana Guerrero
3/3/2016 02:32:17 pm
Cece McDonald is a transgender woman. I agree that everyone should be tried equally no matter what race they are.
Juan
3/3/2016 02:28:44 pm
Marissa Alexander is not trans gender
Eunice Nunez
3/3/2016 02:44:20 pm
Cece McDonald's case was about a black transgender women who was attacked on the street. On June 5th 2011 Cece and her two friends were walking past a Minneapolis bar and was harassed with racist and homophobic words. A man with a Swastika tattoo, a bad record, and on drugs, attacked and cut her face with glass. As a result she needed eleven stitches. In need of defending herself, she grabbed her scissors and stabbed him. She was accused of second degree manslaughter. The court did not see this situation as self defense even though the man attacked and hurt her first. The court said she could try to fight the murder charges with little to no odds in her favor and get 80 years in a male prison. Or take the plead deal and face 41 months in jail (still a male prison). This is not giving her a reasonable choice/option. Cece, of course, took the plea deal. Many people were enraged with this because all Cece did was defend herself. Laverne Cox and others fought to get her out of jail. This relates to what I've learned in class because it shows the injustices there are just because of people's sexuality and gender. The other case is about a black woman named Marissa Alexander. She was in the bathroom and her husband who had beaten her before, started pounding on the door. He also admitted that he had five "baby mommas" and he beat them all except for one. He managed to get the door open and strangled her. She ran into the garage and grabbed her gun and fired a warning shot into the ceiling. She stood her ground and nobody was hurt. She was arrested and found guilty with a 20 year sentence and no parole. This is ridiculous because nobody was hurt and she was just protecting herself.
Ana
3/3/2016 02:52:05 pm
Very nice
Izamar
3/4/2016 03:49:39 pm
CeCe McDonald was an African American transgender woman who was attacked by a 47 year old neo-Nazi man. CeCe and her friends were walking past a bar when they started to receive insults just because she was a transgender woman of color. Then, one of the men hit CeCein the face with a bar glass causing it to cut open so she pulled out the pair of fabric scissors that saved her life. She killed the man in self defense by stabbing him with the scissors. She was on trial for second degree murder and the judge kind of dimissed the evidence that showed that the man was guilty. They were going to improson her for 80 years but she took a deal and said she was guilty so that the time would be minimized to 41 months in a male prison, even if she identifies as a woman. The second case was about Marissa Alexander. Her abusive husband arrived to her house one day and managed to get in. Then, he strangled her but she was able to get away and run to the garage to get her car. She didn’t have her keys to protect herself of him so instead she got her gun and fired a warning shot to the wall,thinking she was standing her ground. Her husband was scared so he left the house. She is now facing 20 years in prison without a chance of parole. This relates to what I’ve learned in class so far because it’s a case that shows people of color are not equally protected under the law. If these women were white, they would have used the evidence they had and wouldn’t be shown as criminals but victims. Not only was CeCe African American, but she was also a transgender woman which makes her more likely to be oppressed. I think that people need to come together and voice their thoughts on this injustice to draw attention to it and inform our country what’s really going on. We need more victims of this injustice to speak up and let people know not everyone is equally protected.
giovana lozano
3/4/2016 04:07:25 pm
Transgender women are being discriminated and violently assaulted. We saw this when Cece McDonald was brutally attacked while she was walking down the street with a friend. One of her aggressors cut her face with glass, resulting in her requiring stitches. She stabbed him with fabric scissors as self-defense and somehow she was the one who committed a crime? How does this happen? Was it racism? Or did the court simply not care about the context of the situation. Whatever their reason, this woman was given two fairly unjust options. She could either continue fighting in court with no support and likely be given many years in prison or she could plea guilty to second degree murder and spend 36months in prison. Was she given a fair trial? What would her options have been if she had been a white transgender woman defending herself from a black man? Marissa Alexander was a black woman who shot in the air to frighten her violent husband. She had a registered gun and wanted to defend herself from being beaten and choked to death. She was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was facing a sentence of 20years. She stood her ground just like the cop who killed Mr. Martin but unlike Marissa, he was a white man. Racism continues to affect us to this day. Peoples prejudices interfere with everyone’s right to fair trial and this must stop. We need to continue informing others on the injustices that occur to people of color and gain supporters to rebel and protest against unfair court hearings. We must show them that we are fighters and deserve to be treated as equals.
Izamar
3/6/2016 10:30:30 pm
I agree that racism still continues today because if they were both white , the cases may have been in their favor instead of against them. They were both just trying to protect themselves in situations where they were minding their own business.
Adriana
3/4/2016 04:58:50 pm
Injustices still happen and sometimes we want to be blind to not see them but there is a limit. There two cases where two African American women were considered guilty without committing an actual crime. The first case was with Cece Mc Donald. She is an African American transwoman. One day, she was walking with her friends and there being dehumanized through racist and homophobic comment. Cece was hit in the face with a bar glass. As a response, she stabbed one of the attackers with scissors which killed him. She got charged with second degree manslaughter. She might have been sentenced to 80 years in prison; however, she took a plea deal to serve 41 months. The second case was with Marissa Alexander. Her husband had been in probation before this happened for hitting her and pushing her violently. Later, her husband forced his way into her house and was raged so he attacked her so she decided to get her un and fire a warning shot in her house. She was standing her ground. These two cases relate to what we have learned in class because both cases had to do with victim-blaming. Also, we have talked about injustices based on different variables, and one of them was race. In Cece’s case, for example, she was an African American transwoman against a white Neo Nazi man, so he was justified because of his race despite his criminal history and conditions. Cece was blamed for a hate crime from a man that was threatening her at the moment. In other words, her act of self- defense seemed like a malicious act. In Marissa’s case, she was blamed for trying to scare away a man who was also threatening her life. His word was valued more than hers. Also, in the video we saw, it said that if Marissa would have been white her “stand her ground” would have been accepted. I think that in order for other people to not experience this, there should be awareness. If more people knew about it, it would shame the authorities for allowing injustice. Also, if more people know about injustices, they can unite and even protest
Emily Madrigal
3/6/2016 11:11:29 pm
I agree that there is a lot of injustice that we are not aware of but i think that part of the problem is because of social media only shows us what they want us to see. We think that we knew everything that we need to know but little do we know that there are people being dehumanized everyday and we have no idea its happening. I think that people should do something or at least try to do something to make people understand how much inequality is going on in our world.
Ivan Navarro
3/4/2016 06:04:53 pm
The Cece Mcdonald case is about a black transgender who killed a man who tried to attack her. She went from a male to a female. She killed her attacker with a pair of scissors from her bag. The man that assaulted her had a swastika tattoo in his chest and said a whole bunch of homophobic stuff. The court did not see that as self defence instead she was sent to a male prison. A women named Laverne Cox I don't know how to spell her name stepped in to case and did whatever she could to help. She stepped in because of her beliefs and wanted to help another african american transgender woman. The Marissa Alexander case was about a african american woman again that killed her attacker. But this time her attacker was her husband. Marissas husband was very brutal he would beat her alot. He has also been arrested many times for beating her. This time her husband was furious about some texts he seen in her phone. So She went to the garage grabbed her gun and shot him. She had to do 20 years in prison because of her case. She recently got out on January 25 2015. These cases are very similar because they were not seen as self defense.
Efrain Camargo
3/4/2016 06:07:17 pm
The case of CeCe McDonald’s case which happens to be a transgender was violently attacked by a white male. He was previously convicted of three assault charges and had a swastika tattooed on his chest. This was either a coincidence or a hate crime, from my perspective she was targeted by him and was defending herself in order to survive. CeCe was struck in the face with a shot glass then she protected herself by finding a pair of scissors in her bag, the guy lunged at her and was stabbed. He ended up dying and she was accused of murder, but the court ruled out the evidence of racism or it being a hate crime towards her. So she was given the option to not appeal and serve 41 months or appeal and if guilty serve 80 years. She obviously didn’t appeal and chose to just serve 41 months even though she didn’t deserve any punishment. CeCe’s case to me seems very racist and unjust because if someone is defending themselves then they have the right to try to flee their attacker. She was given justice but after serving 19 months in a male prison. Many people around the country protested against how she was tried in court because they found it unfair and sexist. In Marissa Alexander’s case her husband previously assaulted her and one day she was being attacked by him which led to her running ,to her garage and grabbing her gun and fired at him the result was her husband dying. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison and got out January 25, 2015.
Crystal Nunez
3/4/2016 07:01:36 pm
Marissa Alexander and Cece McDonald are both african american women who were unjustly convicted for crimes that were not considered to be self-defense .Marissa Alexander was convicted 20 years for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after she stood her ground when she shot a warning shot to scare her husband whom abused her and strangled her.When she tried to run she went into the garage but she didn't have her car keys and the door was stuck.Therefore ,she grabbed a gun she kept in the garage and shot into the ceiling once because she believed she was standing her ground and thought she would not get into trouble.Nobody was hurt but she was still convicted because her stand her ground defense was rejected and she was found guilty. Marissa Alexander did not receive justice because of her race,gender,and economic status.If she was white she would have been innocent which is really unfair because they base their decision of innocent or guilty based off of skin color and it shouldn't be that way or there will never be justice. Cece McDonald is a black transgender woman. On June 5, 2011 , she was walking past a Minneapolis bar with her friends when they were attacked with homophobic,transphobic and racist comments.Cece was hit with glass in her face that required 11 stitches. One of the people who attacked Cece and her friend was a 47 year old who was dead after he was stabbed by Cece with a pair of fabric scissors she used to defend herself.Cece stood trial with second degree man slaughter , the judge in her case rejected key evidence and she was facing up to 80 years of prison but took a plea deal which shortened the time to 41 months in jail, and even though she is a woman , they placed her in mens prison.Her many supporters thought she was jailed for defending herself from the violence transgender people often face.It is true that many people are violent when they see something they are not used to or that they think is simply wrong and that is why many people act out towards LGBT people.Both of these cases make you realize that discrimination of people of color and transgender are a huge problem that need to be addressed.What I think needs to happen is that we need to encourage others to speak up towards injustice.We need to protest and show that we will not allow injustice towards people of color to go on.
Adamari Duran
3/5/2016 12:35:54 am
I agree with you Crystal that discrimination towards transgender and people of color needs to stop. I believe that everyone no matter their race, or gender should have the right to express themselves and no matter your race that we should all be treated the same. We should all speak out and voice our opinion and not let ourselves be oppressed by society and its systems. We should all unite as a whole and come up ways that we can help solve these problems. We need to show resistance and not let society overcome us, we might be young but we have a lot to say about things that affect us and things that are happening in the world. Gender and race should not be a barrier to succeeding and getting justice.
Angelina Duenas
3/5/2016 09:05:00 pm
I agree with you Crystal that discrimination of people of color and transgender are a huge problem that needs to be addressed. This injustice really needs to stop because everyone deserves to be treated equally no matter what. Cece McDonald and Marissa Alexander both used self defense in these hate crimes but the law failed to realize this because these two women are people of color. It is very obvious that if these two women were white, everything would have been different. It is so unfair how people of color get treated badly and it really shouldn’t be that way.
Angelina Duenas
3/4/2016 10:46:19 pm
Cece McDonald, who is a black transgender woman was walking alongside her friends to the grocery store in Minnesota, minding their business. As soon as they passed a local bar, there was a group of people white standing outside the bar and these same group of white people were hurling racist and transphobic words at them such as: ‘faggots’, ‘niggers’ and etc. Cece went up to the group of people and respectfully told them that she and her friends would not tolerate hate speech. One of the men then hit Cece in the face with a bar of glass which caused it to cut open and resulted in Cece getting 11 stitches. Cece took out a pair of scissors from her bag who saved her life. She stabbed the man, who was a Neo-Nazi man on so many drugs named Dean Schmitz. She attacked the man as in self defense. It wasn’t Cece’s intention to use violence, but it was the only method for her to get out of this traumatic situation alive. The man ended up dying after he was stabbed. Cece was charged with second degree murder and received two unfair choices which were to plead guilty and go to jail for 3 years and/or go to jail as a victim for 81 years. The most horrible thing about this is that Cece was held in the men’s prison even after she identified as a women which is very dangerous that she was held in a men’s prison because for Cece because men would have attacked her in there. This was a hate crime but since our criminal justice system failed to realize that, it shows how injustice it is. The case of Marissa Alexander was about her firing a warning shot with her registered gun. As Marissa Alexander was in the bathroom, she was attacked by her husband. He assaulted, shoved, and strangled her while she was begging him to leave. He attacked her sons were in the home. Alexander’s husband was known to have record of being a violent man towards many other women. Marissa was convicted 20 years for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon even after no one was hurt when she fired the warning shot. The reason Marissa Alexander fired a warning shot was to frighten her husband because the way her husband was treating her was so inhumane. Alexander stood her ground when she fired the warning shot but she was found guilty and unfortunately her stand her ground case was rejected. We all know that if Marissa Alexander was white, her stand her ground case would have been approved, which is pretty unfair. The worst part is that her husband got custody over her children even after he stated that he would kill Marissa Alexander. Both of these cases were so unfair because the two women didn’t receive justice for defending themselves. After watching the videos of these unfair cases, I’ve learned that these two women were using self defense as a way to protect themselves but they were still found guilty. What needs to happen to fix and prevent injustices like these is to encourage and educate others on information about self defense, violence, transgender lives, etc. People deserve to be treated equally no matter what race they are.
Adamari Duran
3/5/2016 12:18:52 am
I agree with you Angelina tha placing CeCe in a men's prison is not only unfair but dangerous as well. We all know the realities of prison, we know it is not a place where there's chocolates and rainbows but the harsh reality that we know of is that people get killed,jumped,harassed, raped and a ton of other terrible crimes that go unknown. Since CeCe is a transgender women things could go like ten times worse for her. Not only can she get raped,and harassed but also get targeted because of her race. The problem is that the system fails to realize that Cece goes by the gender of a female and they placed her in a male facility. Not only do they fail to realize that CeCe needs a female facility but also that they are placing her pretty much in the lions hands. I believe that a systems should be developed where all peoples needs are met, it doesn't matter if they committed a crime or in CeCe's case are innocent but everyone deserves to have their needs met. Imagine the years of torture some go through all because they were not placed in the right facility.
Crystal Nunez
3/6/2016 11:09:34 pm
I agree that placing Cece in a mens prison is really dangerous and unfair because people there can be really violent towards transgenders since they don't like what is different. It is so wrong that Marissa had to let go of her children and be imprisoned for a crime that she committed because she was defending herself towards a man who said himself he would have killed her.I agree that people need to be more informed on injustices like these because we need to know that despite your race , gender , and sexuality, we are all human and deserve to be treated equally. It is unjust that people of color who commit the same crimes at white people, get punished way more than they should have just because of how they look or identify as.
Adamari Duran
3/4/2016 11:57:47 pm
There is a lot of injustice going on in this world, we see innocent people get convicted for crimes they did not commit and all because of their race,economic status,or gender. For example we have the cases of CeCe McDonald and Marissa Alexander who are both African American women who used self defense but the law didn’t see their actions as self defense and therefore both were found guilty. We have CeCe, a transgender women who was walking past a bar with a couple of her friends when they get verbally assaulted by a group of white men with racist,homophobic and transphobic words. CeCe and her friends tried walking away while the group still kept on calling them all types of obscenities . While trying to escape from the dangerous situation CeCe gets stabbed in the face with a piece of glass therefore slicing her cheek open and leaving an injury that required her to get eleven stitches. Even though CeCe was hurt she still tried to escape and get to safety but as she was trying to run away her main attacker Schmitz who was intoxicated with alcohol,meth and cocaine ,not only that but he also had a Nazi tattoo across his belly, started following her and lunged at her. CeCe had no other choice than to find whatever she could in her purse to use as a defense. She took out a pair of clothing scissors that she used for school and while Schmitz lunged at her CeCe used the scissors as defense and he was stabbed in the chest then died. CeCe was arrested and charged with second degree intentional murder when in fact a hate crime was committed against her .Then she was offered to accept a plea deal of first degree manslaughter and spending forty one months in prison or be charged with second degree intentional murder and spend forty years in prison for a crime she should have been innocent since it was self defense. They gave her the “choice” to pick whatever option but did they really? They offered her spending half of her life in prison or forty one months. They were obviously trying to intimidate Cece with so much time, therefore Cece had no other choice then to plead guilty for a crime she didn’t commit . This was obviously because of CeCe’s race,gender and economic status but if it were a white women in CeCe’s place I am pretty sure that the man would have been guilty and the white women free. Situations like this make us realize how messed up our system is.
Angelina Duenas
3/5/2016 08:36:11 pm
I agree with you Adamari that there is a lot of injustice in this world going on. Many innocent people are getting convicted for crimes they did not commit and it is truly unfair because the law determines if these innocent people committed a crime based off of their race. For example, Marissa Alexander used the “stand your ground” law when she fired a warning shot in which no one got hurt but she was rejected from it, but then there goes George Zimmerman who also used the “stand your ground” law when he shot and killed Trayvon Martin. It is so obvious that the “stand your ground” law was not applied to Marissa Alexander due to her race. I also agree with you that people should get together and let our voices be heard and demand equality for all no matter what race they are.
Izamar
3/6/2016 10:39:21 pm
I agree that everyone should have the same rights. People shouldn't be treated any different because of skin color. The color of your skin is not a sign that says guilty or innocent. They should've taken the evidence into consideration and see that CeCe didn't kill him for any reason;she felt attacked. How is it fair that some of these police officers are killing people because they feel threatened and aren't put in jail but as soon as an African American or Latino/a does it it's considered a crime?
Crystal Nunez
3/6/2016 10:46:38 pm
I agree that people need to come together to demonstrate to them that we will fight for justice because what they do to people of color and LGBT is injustice. They basically play with peoples lives by convicting them of crimes that will forever follow them wherever they go despite the evidence. It is messed up that they left Cece no way out but to say shes guilty for a crime just because she defended herself from a man who hurt her first and that they imprisoned Marissa because she stood up for herself from an abussive husband. These injustices need to stop because discrimination hurts people because it plays with their lives when it comes to crimes.
Emily Madrigal
3/6/2016 11:03:59 pm
The elements that they have is that they were both victims of domestic violence.Also they both went to jail for trying to defend their lives. They both had the support of some people who don't judge people who are different and that's why they got out of jail. Cece is a transgender woman who was attacked by a older man who was trying to harm her for being transgender. She was going out with a couple of friends. She tried to defend herself with anything she found and the first thing that she found in her purse, which was a pair of fabric scissors.It relatesd to what we have been learning in class because of discrimination and how they make us think that we are the minorities. We are not the minority we are actually the majority. In order for people to not experience these types of violence, is that we need to teach society of the importance of freedom of speech and that everyone is beautiful in their own way and it’s ok to be different.
Stephany Pacheco
3/8/2016 08:51:03 pm
I agree with you Emily. We are the majority in this country. But even though we are the majority there is a large amount of injustice towards us. I also agree that everyone is beautiful in their own way and it is okay to be different. But how would society as you said be taught the importance of freedom of speech? Do you think it was okay for the man to be shouting negative comments towards Cece?
Evelin Hernandez
3/8/2016 01:18:46 pm
What I learned from the two videos was about how transgender women are being treated badly and violently towards how they decided to change and act and dress in their own perspective of how the society will see them. Like for example with the case of CeCe mc Donald of how she was a transgender women who got beated while walking alone in the street and had to serve some months in jail that was not her fault which made her the victim during that case which she later got justice from it and got out of jail .
marcelo
3/8/2016 01:24:47 pm
I think that it was self defense because she was attacked first so she wa fighting for her life so she had a pair of scissors in her purse cece Mcdonald killed the white person attacking her so now they made it seem like is was a murder case and was going to give her 81years in prison that means she will never get out she will have no parole and the worst thing was that they place her in a jail with men idk why but that was very dangers. I also think that police officers are racist because they discriminate people by the way they look and there gender and i think that everyone should be treated the same if they committed the same crime because it's not fair that one some gets less time just because of their skin color or be sentenced more time than the other person.
Ana Guerrero
3/8/2016 01:34:45 pm
Cece McDonald is an African American transgender woman who was assaulted by a white man. Cece was walking down the street and this white man who was high on drugs started screaming homophobic and racist insults to her. He then used a glass bottle and cut her across her face. Cece reacted the only way she; defending herself. Cece used a pair of fabric scissors to stab this man who had assaulted her. The man died and Cece was held responsible for his death. Cece was facing a possible sentence of years in jail unless she pleaded guilty. She was most likely tried by a white judge that did not even consider the evidence for the trial. This was an injustice because she only defended herself from someone who attacked her first. The other case was Marissa Alexander who was in her house using the restroom. Her husband forced his way into the restroom and started beating her. She claims that it was not the first time he'd ever laid hands on her. She ran to her garage to get a gun that was registered. She only fired a warning shot into the air and it dd not hurt anyone. She was only trying to scare her husband and make him leave her alone. She was also tried and accused of assault with a deadly weapon. This was an injustice because she was only protecting herself from a threat. This relates to what we learned in class because it shows how there is oppression based on race. People are still racist and discriminant towards people of color. I think that everyone should be tried equally no matter what race or gender they may be.
Karina G
3/8/2016 03:00:21 pm
Cece McDonald, a transgender African American women, was sentenced to 80 years in prison after a hate crime done to her. I shouldn't even have to say the persons race or how she's identified, considering we should be way past racism/discrimination. However this is all relevant in Cece's case. She was just walking down the street when this man decided to insult her leading it to him physically hurting her as well. Just like anybody would do Cece took out a pair of scissors she had in her purse to defend her self any way she could. The guy that attacked her ended up passing away. If this was self defense, she was at risk, her life was in danger, there was no reason Cece should have to get sentenced 80 years or plea guilty and get 40+ months behind bars.The jury and the judge need to be looked over. The man was harassing Cece while he was on drugs, plus he had a swastika tattoo clearly showing a hate crime, but instead of helping the victim she was sent to a male prison where she didn't belong for the fact that she identified as a women, and the fact that she was the victim in this case. Then again we have another case with a African American women named Marissa Alexander. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison after her husband tried to attack her once again. Domestic violence was taking place in that house hold and that was clear. Yet again, when Marissa tried to defend her self by shooting the gun up, not hurting her husband or anyone, she was punished. Meanwhile the abuser is still out in the streets with full custody of their baby. Marissa wasn't comfortable stating whether she thought things would have turned out differently if she had been white, but we all know it would have been, shouldn't be but its reality. This relates to what I have learned in class because I just really see so many different stories of our corrupt system. We can't always have control. In my opinion we need to look the whole system over. How can there be people with the power to determine someones life ,liberty or incarceration if those in power are discriminators themselves. Our system is corrupt and we need to get together to override it.
Stephany Pacheco
3/8/2016 09:51:36 pm
Karina I completely agree with you that the government is corrupt and that both cases were based on self-defense. I believe that not a lot of people try to challenge the authority becasue they are afraid of what will happen to them if they do. Also, there must be lots of other cases where this happens but that we have not heard of because it is not on the news or media. Do you think that if people knew that nothing would happen to them for standing up for other people, more people would try to create some type of change?
Stephany Pacheco
3/8/2016 09:44:23 pm
Cece McDonald a transgender person of color was violently assaulted on her way to the supermarket. She used self-defense to protect herself from her attacker, a white man. Cece used fabric scissors that she had in her purse to stab her assaulter. She was later convicted of second degree manslaughter. The court gave her two options; 80 years or 3 years in a male facility. She chose the 3 years in a male facility. This shows us that just because the attacker was a white man, he became the victim in this incident. This tells us that race in the eyes of the law can determine who we are just by looking at our race. In the case of Marissa Alexander, she was defending herself from her abusive husband. Her husband had a record of domestic violence towards her and he was also considered the victim in this situation. Marissa used the "stand your ground" law in her favor but it was not accepted by the jury. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Her abusive husband was left with the custosy of their child. This shows that becasue she was a woman, she was convicted with assault with a deadly weapon towards her husband but he was the one who was assaulting her. This shows that being a woman in this country can lead to inequality. Leave a Reply. |
POSCI 35
Introduction to Community Violence Prevention ArchivesCategories |
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