The Stand Your Ground Law
Self-defense has been an established, legitimate excuses in
the law for centuries. Different situations, call for the right to legally
protect one’s self. In this specific law, it states that, “a person can use
reasonable force in his or her own defense or the defense of others." As
we know, laws change over years for the better. In this case, it was altered,
extracting the "reasonable force" portion the law. That modification got the official name
of the Stand your Ground law. Currently 16 U.S. states own this law, where, “individuals
have the right to use deadly force to defend themselves without any requirement
to evade or retreat from a dangerous situation." With only 16 states adopting
this new law, it's clear to say that this law is very controversial, and with
recent events, this law is getting closely looked at to see if it is truly
justified.
One story that has had national coverage, and has become the
poster story for the stand your ground law; the Trayvon Martin case. In
Florida, a 17 year old African American boy was gunned down by a 40 year old,
George Zimmerman. In this specific situation, Martin was not armed at all, but
once Zimmerman confronted him, he apparently felt threaten. He did not evade
the so called dangerous situation, but provoked it, which resulted in an
innocent teenager, who looked suspicious, to be shot and killed for no reason.
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| Trayvon Martin on the left and father to the right |
This case stirred up debates on a national scale, from news channels, to social media, as people awaited the highly anticipated trial. When this trial finally arrived and ended, it did not get the results that most hoped for. Zimmerman was found not guilty on all charges and walked. This also created controversy, on the fact that he was acquitted because of the stand your ground law. This law has taken a lot of heat, specifically in Florida. There have been over 10 similar cases in Florida in 2012, all sharing the detail of one person not owning the same reasonable force applied. In this graph, you can easily see the increase in homicides in Florida over the years, since adopting the law
Ever since this law was adopted, many states have seen an increase in their crime rates, Florida being the most evident. Some statistics have shown that those who invoke "stand your ground" to avoid prosecution, have been extremely successful. Nearly 70 percent have gone free. Also, like most cases, people often go free under "stand your ground" in cases that seem to make a mockery of what lawmakers intended. One man killed two unarmed people and walked out of jail. Another shot a man as he lay on the ground. Others went free after shooting their victims in the back. In nearly a third of the cases the defendants initiated the fight, shot an unarmed person or pursued their victim and still went free. There is one detail, that has become more imminent in more cases, and that is "Race". Defendants claiming "stand your ground" are more likely to prevail if
the victim is black. Seventy-three percent of those who killed a black
person faced no penalty compared to 59 percent of those who killed a
white.
In this chart below, you can see based on statistics, how race, specifically African American, influences "stand your ground" or "SYG".
2005 was the year, the year when self-defense expanded in Florida. The year where, someone could get away with deadly force, if they felt threatened without retreating or leaving the dangerous situation. With more and more cases occurring, each resembling each other in ways, it's a matter of time before the government steps in. In no way, should it be legal to initiate a fight or verbal altercation, let alone just a verbal confrontation, and react with any kind of deadly force. Even if the other person does not have the same force. Some say this law is what Florida and other states, that have considerably high crime rates, needed. But statistics have shown that it has actually made it worse. Some also say that if a person’s life is in danger, he or she has the right to defend him
or herself to whatever extent is necessary for protection. I do agree with most of that argument, only if that person did not initiate the fight, and attempted to flee the dangerous situation and failed. But the fact that most cases have shown that most people did not attempt to flee, and the "stand your ground law", permits that one-hundred percent.
In the video below, are some public views on this law, and how they feel is justifiable in self-defense circumstances.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law#History
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/florida-stand-your-ground-law-yields-some-shocking-outcomes-depending-on/1233133
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-defense_%28United_States%29
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