Are “Stand Your Ground” Laws Warped to Favor White People?

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which became a national issue last year following the shooting of Trayvon Martin, is being applied in a biased and inconsistent way, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

 

Defendants who used “stand your ground” as a defense were more than likely to get off if the victim was black, the newspaper found, following a review of criminal cases involving the notorious statue.

 

In fact, 73% of those who killed a black person faced no penalty at all, while 59% of those who killed a white person got off.

 

The law “has allowed drug dealers to avoid murder charges and gang members to walk free,” Kris Hundley, Susan Taylor Martin and Connie Humburg wrote for the Tampa Bay Times. “It has stymied prosecutors and confused judges.”

 

In addition to Florida, nearly two dozen states have adopted “stand your ground laws,” thanks in part to lobbying by the National Rifle Association and the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.

 

Injustices under the law have occurred outside of Florida.

 

The Urban Institute concluded that 34% of “stand your ground” homicides were deemed justifiable when white shooters killed black victims. But when black shooters killed white victims only 3% of the deaths were ruled justifiable.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

To Learn More:

“Stand Your Ground” Law Helps White Defendants a lot more than Black Ones (by Katie Halper, Salon)

Florida 'Stand Your Ground' Law Yields some Shocking Outcomes Depending on How Law is Applied (by Kris Hundley, Susan Taylor Martin and Connie Humburg, Tampa Bay Times)

Recent “Stand Your Ground” Laws Extend Justifiable Home Protection Violence into the Streets (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Comments

Roy Russell 11 years ago
JQP: Sounds like you want to all black people.What ever reason that you come up with. You want to kill all black people. You probably don't think that black people are human. So it's ok to kill black people. HOW MANY BLACK PEOPLE HAVE YOU KILLED?
JQP 11 years ago
To complete TexasTopCat's comment about racial incarceration rates, I'd add that the final piece of the puzzle is victim surveys. Victim surveys show that violent crime is actually slightly blacker than conviction or incarceration rates. All the data together show where the finger should be pointed, but never is.
JQP 11 years ago
In other words, blacks are more likely to attack people who are only interested in defending themselves, but are much less likely to find themselves justifiably defending life or limb against white assailants. Naturally, the .gov types think this means blacks are "victims" somehow.
RetMSgt 11 years ago
The Urban Institute concluded that 34% of “stand your ground” homicides were deemed justifiable when white shooters killed black victims. But when black shooters killed white victims only 3% of the deaths were ruled justifiable. The question NOBODY wants to ask is: Who's committing the crimes (or attempting to commit the crimes) earning them a spot on "Shoot Me, Please." The 34% vs. 3% comparison is only a symptom of the problem.
TexasTopCat 11 years ago
When a person is forced to defend them selves with the use of deadly force they should not be attacked by our legal system or civil cases. There is no reason that the defender should have to attempt to run and hide when they are merely going about their business. The racial issue statememts only make sense if you compare them to the prision populations based on race.

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