Pregnant Black activist serving 4 years for protest comments

By JAMES POLLARD
Associated Press/Report for America

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Questions about free speech and equal justice are being raised in the case of a pregnant Black activist serving four years in a South Carolina prison. Brittany Martin told officers at racial justice protests that she was “ready to die for the Black” so “they better be ready to die for the blue.” She was convicted of breach of peace in a “high and aggravated” manner. The enhancement makes what’s normally a misdemeanor punishable by years in prison. Her lawyers want the trial judge to reconsider the sentence as Martin struggles to reach her due date behind bars.