Stand Your Ground: Self Defense Measure or License to Kill?


When Florida first enacted the “Stand Your Ground” law in 2005, it was met with great controversy, and for good reason. Nearly a decade later, the law seems to have caused more harm than good, and is constantly being scrutinized for the ways in which it deeply complicates a person’s right to self defense.

In the United States, Stand Your Ground law states that a person may use legally protected force in self-defense without an obligation to retreat first. Florida statute 776.013(3) says:

“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.”

One of the most controversial facets of Stand Your Ground is where it intersects with ever-changing gun ownership policies; using a gun to defend oneself, even if it means killing an attacker, is legally protected under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. Because of this, defendants have an easier time claiming self-defense under Stand Your Ground in court, and criminals haven’t been prosecuted fully. Stand Your Ground has also created racial, political, and gender divides, within the American public because of the way it allows minority groups to essentially become targets under this legally protected license to kill.

Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Kendall Coffey, who has been outspoken about Stand Your Ground since it was first introduced, is decidedly skeptical. “What this law needs to get back to is self defense where it is reasonably necessary and where someone has the burden of avoiding killing someone if they possibly can,” citing cases that involve drug dealers invoking Stand Your Ground in fatal shootouts, and even mentioning how the controversial trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin relied heavily on Stand Your Ground.

In the controversy that surrounds Stand Your Ground, no one is disputing the importance of having some kind of legal self-defense measure in place. However, when the lines between self-defense and homicide become blurred, it’s important that legal analysts and policymakers take notice. Read more about some of the controversial cases in which Stand Your Ground has been successfully invoked by visiting ThinkProgress. 

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