( CNN ) -- There is no reason Marissa Alexander should spend the next 20 years in prison . If you are the most hardened law-and-order person in the world , even you should have some compassion for Alexander , the Jacksonville , Florida , woman who has been struck by the ridiculous Florida law known as 10-20-life . The law requires anyone convicted of an aggravated assault when a firearm is discharged to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison with no regard to extenuating circumstances . Alexander says that on August 1 , 2010 , her husband went into a rage and tried to strangle her after reading some text messages she sent to her ex-husband . She fled the family home , got to the garage and realized she did n't have her keys . Fearing for her life , she says she grabbed a gun and went back into the home to retrieve her keys . She says her husband threatened to kill her , and to keep him at bay , she fired a warning shot into a wall . Why was she charged , convicted and sentenced ? Because State Attorney Angela Corey , the same prosecutor leading the Trayvon Martin case , said the gun was fired near a bedroom where two children were and they could have been injured . Did the bullet hit the children ? No . Did Alexander point the gun at her husband and hit him ? No . She simply fired a warning shot , and according to Florida 's shameful law , that 's enough for a minimum 20-year sentence . Corey offered Alexander a three-year sentence in a plea bargain , but Alexander felt she had done nothing wrong and so rejected the plea . In sentencing her , the judge made it clear that , despite all the pleas for mercy , including one from Alexander 's 11-year-old daughter who took the stand , he was left with no choice but to send Alexander to jail for at least 20 years . Alexander tried to invoke Florida 's controversial stand your ground law in her defense , but that was rejected . Critics of the law 's role in the Martin case have said this shows how the law is applied unevenly . But the real issue here is n't the faulty stand your ground law . It 's the ridiculous mandatory minimum sentences that have been approved by countless state legislatures and Congress . In 2007 , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled ( PDF ) that the federal sentencing guidelines in some types of cases should not be seen as mandatory but as `` advisory , '' giving judges the leeway ( PDF ) to consider multiple factors before sentencing someone . In a 2003 speech to the American Bar Association , Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy railed against federal mandatory minimums , saying , `` Our resources are misspent , our punishment too severe , our sentences too long . '' `` I can accept neither the necessity nor the wisdom of federal mandatory minimum sentences , '' Kennedy said . `` In too many cases , mandatory minimum sentences are unwise or unjust . '' Unfortunately , on the state level , far too many law-and-order legislators , most with no courtroom or law enforcement experience , enact such laws without giving any thought to potential cases like Alexander 's . The 10-20-life policy has no business in the laws of Florida or any other state . Judges should have the discretion to consider a variety of factors in sentencing , and I have no doubt had this judge been given flexibility , Alexander would n't be going to prison for 20 years . These types of injustices are common in our legal system , and it is necessary for everyone with a conscience to stand up and decry these so-called legislative remedies that end up as nightmares . Alexander was a woman trying to flee an enraged husband . She could have easily pointed the gun at him and pleaded self-defense , and like George Zimmerman , the shooter in the Martin case who was not initially charged , Alexander might never have been arrested . Our prison systems are overcrowded , and folks like Marissa Alexander do not belong in them . One hopes that Florida Gov . Rick Scott will find some compassion and grant Alexander a pardon , and the Florida Legislature will revise the law to prevent future miscarriages of justice . Florida elected officials and residents should be ashamed of this law and do all they can to change it . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland S. Martin .
Roland Martin : Marissa Alexander a victim of mandatory minimums . Alexander , who fired a gun into a wall , has been sentenced to 20 years . She was convicted in the shooting death of her boyfriend and is serving life without parole for that crime.