Stand Your Ground Law
Stand your ground law
Keion Samuel
Mr. Jimenez
10 February 2014
The “Stand your ground” law is a very misused and misunderstood laws in the state of Florida. The law states that if a person feels threatened, they can retaliate with extreme force. Even if it is deadly force. The law actually states: Use of force in defense of person.—A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the others imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have …show more content…
a duty to retreat if:
(1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; or
(2) Under those circumstances permitted pursuant to s. 776.013.
History.—s. 13, ch. 74-383; s. 1188, ch.
97-102; s. 2, ch. 2005-27.1 The stand your ground law has been used in many cases and the defendants were set free of all charges. According, to the Tampa Bay Times; “Those who invoke "stand your ground" to avoid prosecution have been extremely successful. Nearly 70 percent have gone free. 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.”2 . The juries on these cases should learn what the law actually means. In Jacksonville, FL, Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in jail simply for firing a warning shot in to the ceiling of her house. Alexander, who had never been arrested before, has said she fired a bullet at a wall in 2010 to scare off her husband when she felt he was threatening her. No one was hurt, but the judge in the case said he was bound by state law to sentence her to 20 years in prison after she was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Alexander had rejected a plea deal that would have resulted in a three-year prison sentence and chose to go to trial. A jury deliberated 12 minutes before convicting her. After she tried to use the stand your …show more content…
ground law, now she is free on bond.3. On the other hand George Zimmerman killed an innocent person. Trayvon Martian was 17 years old and was walking home from the store when he was shot in killed. When the police examined martin's body the did not find anything except for a can of Arizona and a pack of Skittles. George Zimmerman pleaded the stand your ground law as self defense. On July 13, 2013 Zimmerman was set free of all charges. So, how is it that when a women shoots a warning shot into the air and nobody gets injured she gets 20 years. But when a kid gets shot down and killed the killer gets set free? Out of all of the cases that used the Stand your ground law only 44 people were convicted and 75 were justified meaning that the were let go with out any charges, 15 cases are still pending the verdict from a jury.4 Many people claim self defense usually have a violent past. Florida house of representatives' Dennis Baxley was interviewed by Tom McNiff. During this interview Baxley said: Florida's controversial “stand your ground” law was intended to give law-abiding citizens the means to defend themselves against bad guys. But should it also provide immunity for people who, themselves, are law-breakers? State Rep. Dennis Baxley, who authored the law, insists it should not — and said he is puzzled that state attorneys around Florida aren't prosecuting drug dealers, convicted felons and other law-breakers who shoot someone in the name of self-defense. Baxley said prosecutors are widely misinterpreting the law, and as evidence he pointed to the case of a 17-year-old Ocala boy who shot a man when the man came at him with a stick in early July.
Last week, the State Attorney's Office here concluded that the teen, Tyrone Pierson, was, indeed, entitled to defend himself under the “stand your ground” law, even though it was illegal for him to have the gun that he used to shoot 40-year-old Julius Jacobs.
Pierson and his friends told authorities they were walking on the side of the road when Jacobs sped past in his SUV and they yelled at him to slow down. Jacobs reportedly pulled into a nearby driveway and had a brief conversation with a woman, then climbed back into his vehicle and came after the teens.
Witnesses said Jacobs jumped out with a stick and said he was going to beat them. As the other boys ran, Pierson pulled a pistol and shot Jacobs dead. 5Even if the law is not removed it should be clarified of what is acceptable and what is not. And there’s the major problem with Florida’s Stand Your Ground statute. It is so loosely written that the self-defense claim often is interpreted differently in separate cases. Where one individual is acquitted for feeling threatened enough to shoot and kill another person under the law, the next individual is found guilty for simply firing a warning shot in self-defense.6People take the understanding of this law out of proportion. People who know that they are guilty claims that it is self-defense so that they can get a “get out of jail free
card”.
Keion Samuel
Mr. Jimenez
10 February 2014
The “Stand your ground” law is a very misused and misunderstood laws in the state of Florida. The law states that if a person feels threatened, they can retaliate with extreme force. Even if it is deadly force. The law actually states: Use of force in defense of person.—A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the others imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have …show more content…
a duty to retreat if:
(1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; or
(2) Under those circumstances permitted pursuant to s. 776.013.
History.—s. 13, ch. 74-383; s. 1188, ch.
97-102; s. 2, ch. 2005-27.1 The stand your ground law has been used in many cases and the defendants were set free of all charges. According, to the Tampa Bay Times; “Those who invoke "stand your ground" to avoid prosecution have been extremely successful. Nearly 70 percent have gone free. 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.”2 . The juries on these cases should learn what the law actually means. In Jacksonville, FL, Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in jail simply for firing a warning shot in to the ceiling of her house. Alexander, who had never been arrested before, has said she fired a bullet at a wall in 2010 to scare off her husband when she felt he was threatening her. No one was hurt, but the judge in the case said he was bound by state law to sentence her to 20 years in prison after she was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Alexander had rejected a plea deal that would have resulted in a three-year prison sentence and chose to go to trial. A jury deliberated 12 minutes before convicting her. After she tried to use the stand your …show more content…
ground law, now she is free on bond.3. On the other hand George Zimmerman killed an innocent person. Trayvon Martian was 17 years old and was walking home from the store when he was shot in killed. When the police examined martin's body the did not find anything except for a can of Arizona and a pack of Skittles. George Zimmerman pleaded the stand your ground law as self defense. On July 13, 2013 Zimmerman was set free of all charges. So, how is it that when a women shoots a warning shot into the air and nobody gets injured she gets 20 years. But when a kid gets shot down and killed the killer gets set free? Out of all of the cases that used the Stand your ground law only 44 people were convicted and 75 were justified meaning that the were let go with out any charges, 15 cases are still pending the verdict from a jury.4 Many people claim self defense usually have a violent past. Florida house of representatives' Dennis Baxley was interviewed by Tom McNiff. During this interview Baxley said: Florida's controversial “stand your ground” law was intended to give law-abiding citizens the means to defend themselves against bad guys. But should it also provide immunity for people who, themselves, are law-breakers? State Rep. Dennis Baxley, who authored the law, insists it should not — and said he is puzzled that state attorneys around Florida aren't prosecuting drug dealers, convicted felons and other law-breakers who shoot someone in the name of self-defense. Baxley said prosecutors are widely misinterpreting the law, and as evidence he pointed to the case of a 17-year-old Ocala boy who shot a man when the man came at him with a stick in early July.
Last week, the State Attorney's Office here concluded that the teen, Tyrone Pierson, was, indeed, entitled to defend himself under the “stand your ground” law, even though it was illegal for him to have the gun that he used to shoot 40-year-old Julius Jacobs.
Pierson and his friends told authorities they were walking on the side of the road when Jacobs sped past in his SUV and they yelled at him to slow down. Jacobs reportedly pulled into a nearby driveway and had a brief conversation with a woman, then climbed back into his vehicle and came after the teens.
Witnesses said Jacobs jumped out with a stick and said he was going to beat them. As the other boys ran, Pierson pulled a pistol and shot Jacobs dead. 5Even if the law is not removed it should be clarified of what is acceptable and what is not. And there’s the major problem with Florida’s Stand Your Ground statute. It is so loosely written that the self-defense claim often is interpreted differently in separate cases. Where one individual is acquitted for feeling threatened enough to shoot and kill another person under the law, the next individual is found guilty for simply firing a warning shot in self-defense.6People take the understanding of this law out of proportion. People who know that they are guilty claims that it is self-defense so that they can get a “get out of jail free
card”.