The stand your ground law is a sticky subject in our nation right now as it brings up a major problem in the murder case of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman was found not-guilty on behalf of self-defense. Although many skeptics believe that Zimmerman was inaccurately charged and assume he is a "racist", the stand your ground law has more to do with his case than any of the factors. By law, if Zimmerman truly felt that he was going to be attacked or harmed by the young man, he had every right to favor the "stand your ground law" and defend himself. "A “stand your ground” law states that a person may use deadly force in self-defense without the duty to retreat when faced with a reasonable perceived threat" If self-defense was this man's true intentions or not, who is to know?
The problem with the "stand your ground law", is that it is taken advantage of. To many times guilty people try to get away with claiming not-guilty due to self-defense. I truly believe the stand your ground law should remain, however what do we do about the liars? “It’s a law that allows people to, well, stand their ground — pretty much anywhere — instead of retreating if they reasonably believe doing so is necessary to ‘prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.’ ” If we didn't have the law, then what happens when an innocent person, police officer, security guard, (etc.) is put in danger but cannot defend themselves with a fire arm or something else?
"We'd like the repeal of 'stand your ground' or some type of modification where we can hold people responsible to a level that humanity expects, where we don't have 17-year-olds getting gunned down with no justice for them and their families," said the group's legal and policy director, Ahmad Abuznaid.
No comments:
Post a Comment