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When Raquel Nelson’s four year old son AJ was killed by a drunk, serial hit-and-run driver, she didn’t just lose her child, she faced prison time herself. The forty year-old African American Georgia mother was crossing a 4-lane street to her home with her family on April 10th 2010, just after stepping off the public bus. The nearest crosswalk was more than a quarter of a mile away and the sun was setting fast. When AJ slipped out of her grasp he was hit by Jerry Guy’s car and killed. Guy served only 6 months prison time for the crime followed by 5 years of probation. An overzealous Solicitor General decided to go after the mother, Raquel Nelson, for endangering her children. Nelson was tried by an all-white jury and faced three years in prison – more time than the person who actually killed her son. A similar scenario centered around a wealthy white mother would be unimaginable. Nelson’s story is not unusual – across the country, there is a pattern of aggressive prosecutors disproportionately targeting mothers of color. This year alone, there have been reports of women of color being prosecuted for using the home addresses of friends or relatives to enroll their children in better school districts. Such actions are common practice, but are rarely criminalized, especially among white communities. In the past week, after a widespread public internet campaign, Raquel Nelson’s sentence was reduced to probation and no jail time. She will now decide whether to pursue the option of a new trial.

GUEST: Julianne Hing, blogger and reporter for Colorlines.com

Read Julianne Hing’s article here: http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/raquel_nelson_prosecuting_moms.html