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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJoy-Ann Reid: No Florida trip for me
Im supposed to be in Florida next week. Theres a media convention in town, and I have friends who live nearby in Orlando. In fact, my closest friends live in Florida. Two of my three children were born in Miami, and my husband and I spent our honeymoon, bought our first home and raised the kids there during some of the most significant times in their lives. They still talk to their South Florida friends almost daily on Facebook.
Florida for us was soccer practice and games on Saturdays, trips to the pool and the beach. (Though not as often as youd think because, man, is it hot!)
I started my career in news there, and it was where I worked on my first campaign, and my second the whirlwind weeks I spent as a press aide to Barack Obamas history-making 2008 campaign. People often forget that Im Brooklyn-born and Denver-raised. Youre from Florida, right? is as common a question for me as is it Joy or Joy-Ann?
But right now, Im giving Florida a rest. Im not joining a mass boycott, just a personal one. And its not because I simply dont like the outcome of a particular second-degree murder trial. Like Stevie Wonder, Im making a decision for me....
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/24/3519323/joy-ann-reid-no-florida-trip-for.html#storylink=cpy
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)onehandle
(51,122 posts)Cha
(297,655 posts)Joy Reid.
Spazito
(50,453 posts)"Since the law passed, the number of justifiable homicides in Florida has tripled, and the number of concealed-carry permits has ballooned to 1.5 million people. Thats one in 17 adults. Police organizations vociferously opposed the law, but their voices were nothing compared with Pistol-Packing Marion and her bottomless pocket full of ideas for laws that make carrying guns less legally risky for gun owners, and more risky for anyone unfortunate enough to freak them out.
Floridas Stand Your Ground law, which altered the jury instructions in the George Zimmerman trial, has been used more than 200 times as an affirmative defense in murder trials. It has become the preferred defense of gang members, drug dealers, pissed-off neighbors, a kid who suspected someone of stealing his ATV and a 72-year-old who shot dead a Seventh Day Adventist who was behaving erratically in a parking lot."
There is a lot of very interesting information in the link.
Thanks for posting this, I appreciate it.
mia
(8,362 posts)She has a long and active history getting to know about Florida politics.
"Im quitting Florida tourism for now, because my conscience wont let me travel to a state that I love, but where its not safe for my sons to walk the streets. In Florida, and 22 other states with similar laws, but particularly in Florida because of how Stand Your Ground was written, anyone who finds you threatening has a license to shoot you, based solely on the perception in their mind that you were threatening to hurt them. You dont even have to actually hurt them. As long as a jury of as few as six people believe it was reasonable for them to fear you, they will walk...."
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/24/3519323/joy-ann-reid-no-florida-trip-for.html#storylink=cpy
Spazito
(50,453 posts)insight, I often learn something I didn't know before listening to her on a number of issues.
mia
(8,362 posts)but got to know her during the 2003-04 campaign cycle. She's dedicated, thoughtful, and is a genuinely nice person to be around.
Now were Facebook friends and I'm happy for her success.
I'll figure out a way to watch MSNBC online.
Spazito
(50,453 posts)She certainly has seemed to me to be as you describe her; thoughtful and genuine.
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)Thanks mia.
c588415
(285 posts)She is intelligent and informative. I enjoy listening to her views on MSNBC
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)I live here and believe me, a huge boycott would be doing us a favor by keeping this sick law in the forefront of the news.
RevStPatrick
(2,208 posts)She was supposed to fly to Tampa in the morning...