Jason Albert

Albert 1

Professor Quackenbush
POS 2112
April 2015
Stand-Your-Ground Law
In Florida recently there has been plenty of heated debates about our current stand-yourground law. There have been a couple cases recently that have brought light to some of the
issues with the stand-your-ground statute, including the case of Trayvon Martin. Roughly twenty
out of our fifty states in the United States have stand-your-ground laws, not to be confused with
the Castle Doctrine that is present in other states. The Castle Doctrine is similar to the standyour-ground law in some ways but different in others. The Castle Doctrine only takes place in
your castle or house. In states with the Castle Doctrine people have the right to use reasonable
force to defend their property or person if theyre in their house. While states with the stand your
ground law allow people to defend themselves anywhere as long as they have a legal right to be
in that location, are not being unlawful, and if they believe that there is reasonable belief a threat.
The stand-your-ground law allows someone to use force in self-defense when there is a
reasonable belief of a threat, without an obligation to retreat first (Randall).
In Florida, the stand-your-ground law has been interpreted as an expansion of a persons
right to self-defense. The duty to retreat that is present in self-defense cases was eliminated
when the stand-your-ground law came into effect. As long as you are legally allowed to be in the
area, you are not partaking in unlawful activities and you have a reasonable belief that you are in
danger, you are legally allowed to protect yourself instead of worrying about duty to retreat. The
Florida statute says, A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she
reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent
death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent

Albert 2
commission of a forcible felony. A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in
accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or
her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal
activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be (The 2014 Florida Statutes).
Floridas stand-your-ground law was voted on in 2005, and immediately you could tell there was
major disagreements with the law. Floridas stand-your-ground law was helped drafted by the
National Rifle Association. In the voting process in the House of Representatives, the only votes
against the stand-your-ground law came from twenty democrats. However, eight Republican
members in the House of Representatives voted for the law, creating even further disagreements
between the people and government about the law. The stand-your-ground statute in Florida was
supported by the Republicans and the N.R.A while it was being opposed only by Democrats.
There were two Republicans in Floridas House of Representatives that were also in the N.R.A
and helped sponsor the bill. The N.R.A was an important interest group in the passing of the
stand-your-ground law. An interest group is a group of people that attempt to advance their
interests in politics and exercise influence over government policy. The N.R.A believed that
people should have the right to use deadly-force in a self-defense situation without a duty to
retreat and without the fear of being prosecuted for using that deadly force. The N.R.As
lobbying to get the favor of the Republican Party undoubtedly had a huge impact on the passing
of Floridas stand-your-ground law.
The stand-your-ground law is extremely controversial because it is difficult to decide
whether the person was justified in using self-defense, especially when the self-defense results in
death. With the elimination of the duty to retreat in self-defense situations, many argue that
violence and unjustifiable self-defense is increasing because of it. Even the name of the law is

Albert 3
kind of deceiving to some people and they think they now have the right to use violence in minor
situations. It also puts a lot of power in the hands of citizens, who may use deadly force as long
as they reasonably believe that they themselves or another person is in danger. The word
reasonably is thrown around in laws and bills all the time, but it gets hard to interpret whether
someone actually believes they are in danger. There is more controversial issues in the second
part of the Florida stand-your-ground law. In the second part of the statute, it explains that a
person is also justified in using or threatening deadly force if, to prevent the imminent
commission of a forcible felony (The 2014 Florida Statutes). The wording of the statute
makes it seem like the law is encouraging Florida citizens to engage in use of force during the
committing of a felony. This part of the statute seems like it creates more danger than it solves. If
we have people going out of their way to try to prevent forcible felonies, it puts them in a
dangerous and controversial situation. The name of the law combined with the wording of some
proponents of it makes it seem like it encourages vigilantism. The stand-your-ground laws in
Florida have been getting a lot of light because of recent cases that have been piling with the
stand-your-ground excuse. The most known and controversial case in Florida that deals with the
stand-your-ground law is the death of Trayvon Martin. Many people werent happy with the
stand-your-ground laws following the case and death of Martin. After the case Gov. Rick Scott
(R) set up a task force to review the law following Martin's death, however, it was mostly
stocked with members unlikely to find fault with the legislation -- including the bill's sponsor
and three co-sponsors (Campbell). The lobbying of the N.R.A and the support from the
Republican Party for the stand-your-ground law kept the law how the N.R.A wanted, which isnt
a surprise.

Albert 4
In my opinion, I think the stand-your-ground law is a step in the right direction, but I
think it needs some fixes. In 2005 during the debate on the stand-your-ground law, Ken Gottlieb
said "In a few years, you will be back trying to fix this bill". That is because the bill isnt nearly
perfect and needs work. Like most bills, there are loopholes and problems with it that werent
foreseen and need to be fixed. Florida Representative Matt Gaetz said I'm more interested in
closing a loophole where someone would be punished more for missing with a bullet than they
would be for striking someone with a bullet in a self-defense circumstance" (Strassmann). Which
is exactly what happened to a woman in Florida who fired a warning shot when fearing for her
life. She was punished and initially sentenced to twenty years in prison for this. I think the standyour-ground law in Florida can be beneficial and a promising law as long as we keep working to
refine the bill, and get rid of loopholes.

Albert 5
Works Cited
Randall, Mark, and Hendrik DeBoer. "THE CASTLE DOCTRINE AND STAND-YOUR
GROUND LAW." OLR RESEARCH REPORT. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
<http://cga.ct.gov/2012/rpt/2012-R-0172.htm>.
"The 2014 Florida Statutes." Statutes & Constitution : Online Sunshine. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View
Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=stand your
ground&URL=0700-0799/0776/Sections/0776.012.html>
Campbell, Janie. "8 Florida Republicans Who Helped Pass 'Stand Your Ground' Or Worked To
Keep It On The Books." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 26 Apr.
2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/florida-republicans-stand-yourground_n_3600017.html>.
Strassmann, Mark. "Fla. Looks to Expand Controversial Stand Your Ground Law." CBSNews.
CBS Interactive. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-looks-toexpand controversial-stand-your-ground-law/>.
Winkler, Adam. "What the Florida 'Stand Your Ground' Law Says." The New York Times. Web.
26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/03/21/do-stand-yourground-laws-encourage-vigilantes/what-the-florida-stand-your-ground-law-says>.