With a record so deplorable that The Nation featured her in a cover story asking, “Is Angela Corey the most hated prosecutor in America?” Angela Corey has put hundreds of kids in prison, and dozens of people on death row. As the state attorney in northeast Florida, she failed to convince a jury to convict George Zimmerman of second-degree murder for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, but she prosecuted Marissa Alexander for firing a warning shot. Alexander says she was attempting to scare off her allegedly abusive husband during a dispute. No one was hurt. Alexander invoked the “stand your ground” defense in 2012, just as Zimmerman did during his trial. The judge threw out her self-defense claim, siding with Corey’s argument that she fired out of anger instead of out of fear for her life.
Corey lost the Republican primary on Tuesday for 4th circuit judicial state attorney in a landslide. Melissa Nelson, a corporate lawyer and former prosecutor, claimed 64 percent of the vote over Corey’s 26 percent in the fourth circuit, which oversees Jacksonville, Florida. The internet is abuzz with the news, and singer John Legend is among those weighing in to celebrate.
“Prosecutors possess much of the power to end mass incarceration and to make our criminal justice system smarter and more just,” Legend said in a written statement. “They have the power to decide whether to charge or not, how to negotiate a plea deal, and whether or not to pursue the harshest punishment possible. With this power should come the responsibility to carry out their duties with balance, wisdom and compassion and without prejudice or bias. They should do so with the goal of bringing healing and safety to the community, rather than merely being as tough as the law will allow.
“Today the voters in Jacksonville and throughout Florida’s 4th Judicial Circuit have decided that Angela Corey failed in that responsibility by aggressively seeking the death penalty and egregiously charging juveniles, particularly those of color, as adults. Her tactics have been rejected by her community, and we applaud the voters for rejecting them. This is a sign of positive things to come in our fight for a #FREEAMERICA.”
Nelson’s chances in the general election appear to be pretty good, as she will face Kenny Leigh, a write-in candidate who runs a men’s only law firm in a state that has reportedly never elected a write-in candidate to a state attorney position.
