Florida's "stand your ground'' law - murderers set fre

[The_Squid]

Seven years since it was passed, Florida's "stand your ground" law is being invoked with unexpected frequency, in ways no one imagined, to free killers and violent attackers whose self-defense claims seem questionable at best.

Cases with similar facts show surprising — sometimes shocking — differences in outcomes. If you claim "stand your ground" as the reason you shot someone, what happens to you can depend less on the merits of the case than on who you are, whom you kill and where your case is decided.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/florida-stand-your-ground-law-yields-some-shocking-outcomes-depending-on/1233133

The Republicans have made a law that is allowing murderers and gang-bangers to walk free. Not smart legislating whatsoever.

In the eight years since, the law has been invoked to protect drug dealers and gang members from murder charges, and it's allowed personal disputes over lovers, possessions, and yes, trash bags, to escalate into bloody murder scenes without consequences.

"What in the hell is our state government doing passing a law encouraging our citizens to solve disputes with guns?," Arthur Hayhoe, executive director of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, told the Tampa Bay Times. "This is the right-to-commit-murder law."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/stand-your-ground-cases_n_3606405.html

There are some really interesting examples of how the defense was used by murderers... a man shoots another person who was a guest in his house (albeit the guest of his wife, not him... and he was boning her, but that doesn't put the killer in any danger...)

Kenneth Allen was upset that Clearwater neighbor Jason Rosenbloom had placed 8 rather than the allowed 6 trash bags on their curb. The two men got into a verbal dispute. As Rosenbloom approached, Allen shot him once in the stomach and once in the chest, claiming Rosenbloom had tried to enter his home.

Allen was not charged, police believing his self-defense claims. "Had it been a year and a half ago, he could have been arrested for attempted murder,” Rosenbloom said of how the then-new Stand Your Ground law affected the case.

Disputes over garbage are now allowed to escalate to the point where someone can get away with shooting the person that they were arguing with. Wild west, eh!!

Yikes... what a place...

Edited July 30, 2013 by The_Squid

[Shady]

Was he trying to get into the other guys home?

Anyways, adjustments can be made to the stand your ground laws, but they're actually fairly logical. If somebody attacks you, you don't have to just run and try to avoid their attacks. You can stand and defend yourself.

Regardless, to blame Republicans for this would be like me blaming Democrats for laws that allow child molesters to get away with barely a slap on the wrist.

[Argus]

Was he trying to get into the other guys home?

Anyways, adjustments can be made to the stand your ground laws, but they're actually fairly logical. If somebody attacks you, you don't have to just run and try to avoid their attacks. You can stand and defend yourself.

And if you're a frightened little man packing heat, you can shoot people for very little reason, and claim you were afraid.

Regardless, to blame Republicans for this would be like me blaming Democrats for laws that allow child molesters to get away with barely a slap on the wrist.

Can you name me these laws which allow child molesters to get away with a slap on the wrist? Last I heard you can go to jail for a hundred years for downloading a few pictures of naked kids. And given every single 'stand your ground' law was pushed by Republicans (the party of frightened little men) I think it's pretty damned logical to blame them.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Argus

[Bonam]

The Republicans have made a law that is allowing murderers and gang-bangers to walk free. Not smart legislating whatsoever.

The republicans are a party of cave men trying to club modern society into their vision of what the cave used to look like. "Smart legislating" is the last thing one should expect. Unfortunately, same is true for the democrats. America is in for a bad time.

[roy baty]

And if you're a frightened little man packing heat, you can shoot people for very little reason, and claim you were afraid.

Can you name me these laws which allow child molesters to get away with a slap on the wrist? Last I heard you can go to jail for a hundred years for downloading a few pictures of naked kids. And given every single 'stand your ground' law was pushed by Republicans (the party of frightened little men) I think it's pretty damned logical to blame them.

So if you are a "brave big man" walking home with your kids from the 7-11 and can't get away from being beaten to death by 4 youths for what's left inside your wallet even though you have a gun in your possession to defend yourself is ok or worth the risk? With any law such as this, any crafty enough dishonest person can get away with murder with the wrong jury or judge so yes it needs to be modified or at least examined to help reduce the dishonesty but someone's right to defend themselves shouldn't be blindly removed just because of this Zimmerman case. There is no evidence to prove that this law is producing more and more murderers as you and others in here seem to think they are or possibly will. There are also similar laws in 30 other states passed by Democrats and Republicans alike just as I am sure many Democrat lawmakers voted for this in Florida. So I gotta love how no matter how ridiculous the opportunity may be, many of you who despise Republicans jump at the chance to blame everything you disagree with on the them. This is a prime example of that foolishness at its best.

Edited July 31, 2013 by roy baty