The infamous George Zimmerman case has stirred the controversy around Stand Your Ground laws and brought these laws to the public light, becoming the subject of vigorous nationwide debates whether these laws should be repealed or not. Like many controversial legislative, Stand Your Ground laws have their critics and proponents, and both sides tend to make valid points in defense of their position. The goal of this paper is to show cons and pros of Stand Your Ground laws.
In Florida as well as 21 other American states, as stated by to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the above-mentioned laws are self-defense laws that relieve individuals of their “duty to retreat from an attacker before using force against them anywhere they are legally allowed to be” (Clark). While in general these laws do not use such a notion as “stand your ground” specifically, Florida together with nine other states has these words in its law. In Stand Your Ground law in Florida, particularly, it is stated that “a person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony” (qtd. in Clark).
The major con of this law, as its critics think, is that it essentially gives individuals with malicious intent a legal loophole to avoid criminal prosecution for killing someone if these individual state that they had to defend themselves. Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, is among those opponents of Stand Your Ground laws who believe that these laws will allow individuals to provoke others to attack them first and then, as it can be deemed self-defense and these individuals will not have the duty to retreat, they will be able to kill them without fear of getting prosecuted (Cooke). In states with Stand Your Ground laws, people will not have to think twice whether they should use weapons to defend themselves against the attackers or retreat because they will have the right to kill their attackers. Such violence will breed further violence. Criminals may use this law to cover up the deliberate and premeditated killing of people.
However, proponents of this law may respond to the above-mentioned claims of their counterparts as follows. This critique of Stand Your Ground crumbles under the weight of the argument that “In almost every state, if and when an individual enters into an altercation with the deliberate intention of provoking the other party into threatening him with death or injury, they lose the right to claim that they were acting in self-defense” (Cooke). All individuals have the right to liberty and life and therefore, they have the right to defend themselves. Those who attack people violate their victims’ rights to live, so Stand Your Ground laws legally recognize these rights, attempting to “tilt the balance in favor of the attacked” (Cooke).
Both, the opponents and proponents of Stand Your Ground laws have reasonable and sound arguments, but they need to find some middle ground regarding these laws that will satisfy both sides.
Works Cited
Clark, Korey. Nearly Half of States Have "Stand Your Ground" Laws like Florida 's. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. http://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/criminal/b/criminal-law-blog/archive/2013/07/24/nearly-half-of-states-have-quot-stand-your-ground-quot-laws-like-florida-39-s.aspx.
Cooke, Charles C.W. Stand Your Ground on Stand Your Ground. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013 .
Cited: Clark, Korey. Nearly Half of States Have "Stand Your Ground" Laws like Florida 's. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. http://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/criminal/b/criminal-law-blog/archive/2013/07/24/nearly-half-of-states-have-quot-stand-your-ground-quot-laws-like-florida-39-s.aspx. Cooke, Charles C.W. Stand Your Ground on Stand Your Ground. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013 .
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Civil Rights Outline Contents Introduction 3 42 U.S.C. § 1983 3 Monroe v. Pape & Related Cases 3 11th Amendment 4 Exceptions to 11th Amendment State Sovereign Immunity 5 The 11th Amendment and § 1983 7 Suits Against Officers 8 Bivens 8 Rejecting or Limiting Bivens 8 Official Immunity 9 Absolute Immunity 10 Legislative Immunity 10 Judicial Immunity 10 Witness Immunity 11 Prosecutorial Immunity 11 Qualified Immunity 12 Sequence of Analysis (“The Order of Battle”) 13 Appealability of the Denial of Qualified Immunity 15 “Reasonableness” 15 Qualified Immunity Comparison with Liability Rules 17 Evolution of Qualified Immunity 17 Governmental Liability 19 Official Policy or Custom 20 Four Incoherences in § 1983 Law 22 Remedies for What Wrongs? 23…
- 29388 Words
- 118 Pages
Powerful Essays -
First, I would like to bring to your attention that George Zimmerman was found not Guilty of the murder of Trayvon Martin under the 'Stand your ground law' This law which is placed gives individuals the right to use deadly force to defend themselves without having to retreat from a dangerous situation However, When Zimmerman called 911 and explained to the police department about the suspicious of Trayvon Martin the police officer informed him not to follow yet Zimmerman continue to follow him after the dispatcher told him there was no need to do so Surely if George Zimmerman after calling a dispatch unit because he felt unsafe why did he feel the need to then follow the young teenager he is now inserting himself into what he declared to be a dangerous situation Knowing full well that he was armed, Zimmerman followed Trayvon in his car AND on foot meaning he left his car making the decision to bring his gun in order to pursue and confront someone Here you can see he was clearly wanting trouble. he was ordered not to follow him. But he did so he has no right to claim self-defense. He was asking for a fight and he got one, with a kid he thought to be dangerous. we can clearly see George Zimmerman was the instigator and placing himself into this position and then use the act of self defense to justify murder of an innocent unarmed teenager. I don't think he set out to shoot Treyvon Martin, but in the end, he did and that was his choice he was warned not to approach the boy and decided to neglect the warning and take it into his own hands he simply took advantage of an opportunity trying to play the part of a…
- 1011 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The "Miranda rule," which makes a confession inadmissible in a criminal trial if the accused was not properly advised of his rights, has been so thoroughly integrated into the justice system that any child who watches television can recite the words: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney" Yet the 1966 Supreme Court ruling in Miranda v. Arizona remains the subject of often heated debate, and has had a great impact on law enforcement in the U.S.…
- 1557 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Thesis: The Federalist Papers influenced the ratification of the Constitution by making some of their most important arguments, including the importance of being in a Union by having a Constitution, answering to the objections made by the Anti-federalists about separation of powers, and defending opposing arguments made against the characteristics of the executive and judicial branch as provided in the Constitution.…
- 470 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In today’s world there are many disputes about the old and some new changes to the “Stand Your Ground” laws. Some believe that these laws are crazy and that a society like ours should not need them and that if you shot someone outside your home that it is a crime and need to be sentenced to prison some other form of punishment. And then there are those who believe that the changes have brought a better more positive side to the community and that the laws should be engorged.…
- 413 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Since 2005, other states have adopted a Florida style self-defense law that has been known to overlap and fall into three distinct categories, Stand Your Ground, Castle Doctrine or Duty to Retreat. These laws contain provisions that expand upon previous laws to provide additional protection to citizens who used guns or other means of force outside of their home as well as inside the home so long as there is reason to believe that you were in danger. Many people believe that these laws have just appeared out of nowhere or due to the Trayvon Martin case, but in actuality, they have been in the works for quite some time. Take for example the carrying concealed weapons law. The National…
- 548 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
To begin with, the number of homicides has increased each year since the stand your ground law has been passed.After Georgia passed its stand your ground law, the number of justifiable homicides in our state increased by 83%. As Rhonda Cook states that the number of homicides increased after the stand your ground law was passed therefore it creates a harmful disturbance to the…
- 1611 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
The "Stand Your Ground" laws are laws that allow people to defend themselves with deadly force, rather than retreating, if they feel they are in danger or a serious felony is about to be committed. This law was present in Zimmerman's trial briefly and that was when he didn't get arrested right away. However, Zimmerman was arrested on April 11, 2012 because the police found evidence that proved that it didn't have anything to do with the "Stand Your Ground" laws. In the court, the lawyers for Zimmerman didn't base their defense on the law, instead since Zimmerman had no option of retreat, so therefore the "Stand Your Ground” didn't apply in the court of law. The Stand Your Ground law was primarily passed in Florida.…
- 458 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Although the stand your ground law is used to stop violence its use results in uneccessary deaths therefore O.C.G.A should be revised.the whole u.s was shocked when george zimmerman was founf innocent of killing 17 year old trayvon martin.it was thought of as a easy case for zimmerman since he had no strong opposing testimony.he also used the stand your ground law to prevent jail time.ever since this case there have been continous cases of the law where murderers get away therefore it needing to be revised.…
- 436 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R) signed the Stand your ground law after it passed 39-0 in the state senate and 94-20 in the state house. This new law has changed the legal definition of self-defense for people that claim they are in fear for their lives. We now have situations like the case I referred to at the beginning of my essay. It was already hard dealing with our young Black men being profiled for the clothes they were, or looking like they do not belong in a certain part of town. Stand your ground now says if you think someone was going to do something to you, or if you start a fight but start to lose it is alright to kill a person and the law will back you up one hundred percent.…
- 566 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Use of force within law enforcement is used to control and try to contain the suspect or situation. The United States have gone through many problems with trying to find a middle ground and the correct use of force. There have been problems with the correct use of force even when weapons are not used like the unfortuante death of Eric Garner who was killed by a illegal chock hold in New York. Although, this is an obvious problem within the law enforcement in the United States, there has been no clear solution to the problem. Many have…
- 902 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The first “stand your ground” law was passed in Florida in 2005 and since then 21 states have followed suit by implementing a law of the same sort. Those…
- 1574 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
The criminal justice system of America is deeply scarred with racial bias. Crimes are being committed and, in turn, are resulting with innocent people doing hard-time. Thankfully, newfound methods of appealing court rulings are finding justice for these minorities; however, the results are as shocking as the crimes being committed. When it was found that the majority of successful appeals were of minorities, the true defects of the system was apparent. The minority community is being critically judged for things they’re not doing.…
- 1204 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In 1985, the Supreme Court outlawed the indiscriminate use of deadly force with its decision in the case of Tennessee v. Garner. In this case, the court ruled that the use of deadly force against apparently unarmed and non dangerous fleeing felons is an illegal seizure of their person under the Fourth Amendment. “Deadly force may not be used unless it is necessary to prevent escape and the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious injury to the officer or others”(Tennessee v. Garner, 1985). The majority opinion stated that, when the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from failing to apprehend the subject does not justify the use of deadly force to do so. A police officer may not seize an unarmed, non dangerous suspect by shooting him dead. As a result of the decision in the Tennessee v. Garner case, policies that restrict the police use of violence have been implemented by some states. Others have continued to upgrade training in the use of force. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center(FLETC) has developed the FLETC use-of-force model to teach officers the proper method to utilize force in response to the threat they face. Through demonstrations, lectures, and training scenarios officers are taught to assess the behavior of the suspect and apply an appropriate amount of force(Graves, F. and G. Connor, p.59). Policy making by police administrative review boards as well as internal review are also ways in which to control police shootings.…
- 313 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Terry vs Ohio was a case against in 1963 in which a Cleveland, Ohio Police Detective Martin McFadden noticed three suspicious individuals pacing back and fourth by a jewelry store. Thinking that the men were possibly planning an armed robbery, McFadden stopped and questioned the men. After a quick search he found a pistol in John Terry’s overcoat and a revolver in Richard Chilton’s pocket, the third man with the last name Katz was unarmed. McFadden arrested both Terry and Chilton with carrying concealed weapons. The judge Bernard Friedman found both men guilty and due to the suspicious behavior of the two men and the concern for the safety of himself and the citizens in the area, Detective McFadden was justified for conducting the search (http://www.acluohio.org/cases/terry-v-ohio).…
- 405 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays