A review of the Stand Your ground Act
Abstract
Although laws are made with an intention to help people, sometimes it is unfortunate there is no consensus on its necessity among the people.. The ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws in one such law in which there is much controversy. While use of deadly force to defend self is acceptable by all, there is a possibility of the Act being revoked by the defender after unnecessary killing to go scot free. After the Trayvon Martin case of 2012, there has been a major outcry to reform it or abandon it. Although ‘Stand Your Ground’ law has been determined as right and a necessary Act, it is very likely that it would be again reconsidered depending on further developments.
Man has come a long way from the days of anarchy when there were no laws and people were free to kill each other. The strongest and the fittest survived through the developments. But with time and changes, civilization has brought-in a concept of law and of punishment to deter wrong doings on others. Although the morality of law holds that even if criminals are not brought to book, it should be ensured that no innocent man is ever punished. However given the enormity of the situation, this cannot be guaranteed. Many are still held as suspects and imprisoned for considerable periods of time without a trial. When evidences are not recorded properly or when enforcement officers are not inclined to investigate evidences supportive of the suspect, justice is tampered. Although the practices by and large contribute to enforcement of societal justice, there are enormous opportunities for lapses in every aspect of criminal justice. The justice process when not undertaken with care and caution, can have immense implications for the individual (Human Rights Watch, 2007). Laws are formed to protect the innocent and the rightful from the unjust and wrongful. However abuse of law occurs when individuals take law into their hands to ensure justice for themselves. Although laws have provisions from self-defense acts, these too should have limits, with a responsibility on all actors. Some laws may ironically be seen as unreasonable by many sections and may never gain a consensus, which become more problematic for law enforcement. The ‘Stand Your Ground’ law is one such law.
The ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws are statutes that emphasize a person’s right to use force, even deadly force in self-defense. It intends to grant immunity to people who are defending themselves and also those who are trying to protect others from the attack. People are allowed to brandish their arms, fire warning shots and even kill if required, in self-defense (Orlando Sentinel, 2013). The essence of the law is that an individual has no obligation to retreat when faced with an unlawful threat. There is no doubt that acts of self-defense should be justified, particularly in the face of grave danger. For instance consider the situation when confronted by an armed robber, which is too common. Armed robbers, to be successful in their ventures need to dominate right from the start of the action. Giving no room for the victims to negotiate, they ensure the situation is favorable to them for achieving their goal. To achieve this they instill chill fear by convincing them of impending death. The illusion of impending death is creating by getting hold of potential victims off guard, not giving them an opportunity to resist (Matthews, 2002). The tactics adopted by these armed robbers to camouflage their intentions only shock their innocent victims, increasing their apprehensions and sufferings. Thus the grounds for ‘Stand Your Ground’ law look necessary and valid.
The origins of ‘Stand Your Ground’ law may be attributed to 2004, when James Workman, a Pensacola resident shot dead a man who illegally got inside his recreational vehicle. Despite prosecutors deciding not to raise any charges against Workman, the defense and lawmakers recounted the unnecessary hardships, the retired person Workman had gone through, before being cleared. They decided to prepare grounds of support for people using deadly force in self-defense situations. Officials from law enforcement highlighted the fact that it would be difficult in securing convictions when shootouts occur, as anyone could claim to have acted in self-defense (The Week, 2012).However the objections were overruled and the bill was passed into law in 2005. The National Rifle Association had supported the bill. The statutes were gradually adopted by other US states and there are over 20 states with the ‘Stand Your Ground’ statute.
With regard to law enforcement, the statute had immense implications for murder convictions. Earlier the shooter who killed in self-defense had a responsibility to establish that he or she had acted reasonably and that they were indeed in a high danger situation. With the new statute, the prosecutors now had the responsibility to show that shooting was unnecessary and that the shooter was not under considerable threat (PR Watch). Also the deceased family was barred from bringing a criminal suit against the shooter. The law came into public scrutiny in the Martin Trayvon shooting that caused a major demand for its review.
Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17 year old African American was shot dead on February 26, 2012 by Zimmerman, a 28 year old multiracial Hispanic American. Zimmerman was the neighborhood watch coordinator for a gated community. At almost 7 pm, Zimmerman called 911 to report a suspicious looking teenager who was cutting in-between houses, walking leisurely in the rainy weather while looking at all houses. According to the police, there were no indications that Martin had any previous criminal track. Police told Zimmerman not to follow Martin (Huffington Post, 2013). However just a few minutes after the call, Martin was shot Zimmerman who invoked the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law stating that he was threatened. The police believed Zimmerman and backed him, but there was a massive outcry and the Florida Law Enforcement has to reconsider their assessment of the case. Responding to racist motivation for the killing and the subsequent police conduct, a special prosecutor was appointed who filed a second degree murder charge on Zimmerman. Even as the case is under trial, Florida Governor Rick Scott ordered a panel to review the ‘Stand Your Ground’ legislation and determine if any amendments were required. The panel ignored the fact that the law corresponded with an increased homicide rate (Fischer, 2013). The panel ultimately backed the bill without any changes.
While no one would oppose use of deadly force in self-defense, to protect oneself from an imminent danger; there however needs to be a mechanism to ensure that this right is not misused. When misused people can kill another for any reason and have an opportunity to justify it as having done in self-defense. Most of these ‘acted in self-defense killings’ do not have any witnesses and therefore it is difficult to bring in homicide charges on the killer. The Trayvon Martin case has showed that killing under the guise of self-defense can sometimes be overlooked by the law enforcement. The homicide rate had increased subsequent to the passing of the act, with several shooters claiming to have acted in self-defense. None know for sure how many of these killings were actually unjustified murder. Killing under the pretention of self-defense has got away too far and reforms are necessary to ensure that each case is fairly dealt with. Lives are precious, be it the threatening ones or the threatened ones, the society should value both and do justice for each lost life. Perhaps more debate, reforms and developments are required to govern the use of deadly force in self-defense.
References
Fischer B (2013) On Anniversary of Trayvon Martin's Death, ALEC-Backed Stand Your Ground Laws Remain on Books. Retrieved from
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/02/11995/anniversary-trayvon-martins-death-alec-backed-stand-your-ground-laws-remain-books
Huffington Post (2013) Trayvon Martin Shooting Anniversary: A Look Back At The Case After One Year. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/trayvon-martin-shooting-anniversary_n_2764818.html
Human Rights Watch (2007) Shielded from Justice: Police brutality and accountability in the United States Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/reports98/police/uspo14.htm
Matthews R (2002) Armed Robbery. Willan Publishing
Orlando Sentinel (2013) Florida bill would broaden 'stand your ground'. Retrieved from
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-02-27/news/os-broader-stand-your-ground-20130227_1_florida-bill-grant-immunity-ground
The Week (2012) Stand Your Ground laws: Do they offer a license to kill?. Retrieved from http://theweek.com/article/index/227159/stand-your-ground-laws-do-they-offer-a-license-to-kill
