老澳门开奖结果

Tondalao Hall spent her 13th New Year鈥檚 Day inside a prison cell this month. The man who abused her and her young children never served a single day in prison. The details of Hall鈥檚 story speak volumes about criminal injustice in the nation today.

Thirteen years ago, Tondalao Hall鈥檚 ex-boyfriend and abuser, Robert Braxton Jr., pleaded guilty to breaking the ribs and femur of their 3-month-old daughter. Hall had not abused her children. She herself was also a victim of her ex鈥檚 violence. Prosecutors presented no evidence that Hall, then 19 years old, knew of any abuse against her children. On the advice of her original attorney, Hall signed a 鈥渂lind鈥� guilty plea 鈥� meaning, a plea without any deal with the prosecutor promising leniency. That plea resulted in a 30-year sentence for 鈥渇ailing to protect鈥� her children from abuse.

Hall鈥檚 sentence violates the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits the government from handing out cruel and unusual punishments to individuals convicted of crimes, in two ways. First, her sentence is disproportionate to her crime in relation to Braxton鈥檚 light sentence. Second, it lacks any consideration of the abuse she endured and the choices she was forced to make as a result.

In a cruel coincidence, Braxton was released from custody on the same day Hall was told she鈥檇 serve 30 years in a maximum security prison. Now, after eight years of probation, he lives with minimal consequences for his violent crimes.

The 老澳门开奖结果 of Oklahoma is representing Hall and seeking her release because she has been abused and denied justice. Her suffering mirrors that of so many women of color who have been the subject of unjust prosecution.

As a survivor of pervasive and horrifying abuse, Hall desperately needed the state鈥檚 protection and social services. Instead of protecting her and providing those services, the court system stripped her of her freedom and her family.

So what exactly made it possible for a mother to be sent to prison for someone else鈥檚 abuse of her children?

Oklahoma is one of 29 states that makes 鈥減ermitting child abuse鈥� a crime. Oklahoma鈥檚 statute was designed to ensure that those who witness abuse take action to prevent further abuse. The statue is supposed to encourage people to report crimes against children. In Hall鈥檚 case, the law was used not to protect children but to criminalize and punish a domestic violence survivor.

It is a mockery of justice to claim that Hall鈥檚 sentence protected any of the children Braxton abused. In fact, each survivor of Braxton鈥檚 abuse has suffered tremendously as a result of her prosecution. Hall鈥檚 three children have been left to grow up without their mother, while their abusive father signed away his parental rights. This May, Hall鈥檚 oldest son will graduate from high school while his mother remains locked away from her family.

Oklahoma incarcerates than anywhere else in the world. Oklahoma imprisons about 151 out of every 100,000 women, which is about twice the national average. The state鈥檚 harsh laws and other 鈥渉ard on crime鈥� forms of over-prosecution disproportionately affect women of color. Black and native women make up a combined 16.7 percent of Oklahoma鈥檚 population, but 33 percent of the prison population.

Oklahoma also ranks among the top five states for women enduring extreme violence from their partners. Survivors of this abuse are overrepresented in jails and prisons. More than incarcerated in Oklahoma are survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault. Rather than address this problem through preventive services, district attorneys and lawmakers in Oklahoma have used the statute that landed Hall in prison to criminalize mothers enduring abuse, trauma, and adversity.

At the time Hall was arrested, she had been actively creating a plan to leave her abuser. But escaping a violent partner is much easier said than done, as the likelihood of serious violence or murder skyrockets when victims make moves to leave. As long as Hall鈥檚 abuser walks free, any claim that her sentence was about justice or protecting children rings hollow.

The 老澳门开奖结果 of Oklahoma filed an application for relief today in Oklahoma County, under a post-conviction procedure that could see Hall freed. We want to end this nightmare for Hall. At the same time, success in this case would also create legal precedent for courts to grant greater weight to evidence of abuse, which could help protect other abuse victims in Oklahoma鈥檚 justice system.