Among the marchers were the parents of slain African-American teenagers Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis. Also among the marchers was the family of Marissa Alexander, who was sentenced to 20 years for firing a gun in the direction of her estranged husband.
While the Republican-dominated Florida legislature has shown no interest in making any substantial changes to the stand your ground law enacted in 2005, opponents should keep up the pressure to repeal or amend the law.
The Florida law says people who are not involved in illegal activity have the right to stand their ground and meet force with force, including deadly, if they reasonably believe it’s necessary to avoid death or great bodily harm.
The law is deeply flawed because it has been shown in the Martin and Davis cases you don’t need an actual threat. In the Martin case, George Zimmerman followed Martin before shooting him allegedly in self-defense. In the Davis case, Michael Dunn confronted Davis and his friends about loud music coming from their vehicle, before firing at Davis and a group of teenagers, allegedly because he thought they had a gun. No witnesses saw a gun and none was ever found. In both cases the shooter was the aggressor and the victims were unarmed.
“To have laws that tell people that they can shoot first and then ask questions later is a violation of our civil rights,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton who led the marchers. “I believe that law is inherently wrong. The law in effect says based on your imagination — if you image I’m a threat — you have the right to kill me.”
Florida was the first state to enact an explicit stand your ground the law. Since the law was passed the rate of justifiable homicides in Florida has tripled.
Since Florida became the first to pass the stand your ground law, more than 30 others have passed some versions of it.
Although the Republican-controlled legislature in Florida and other states where the law exists have resisted changing the law, the fight to repeal or amend it should continue.
Opponents of the law should continue to point out that African-Americans have not been the only victims of the law, while not shying away from the fact that Blacks have been disproportionately affected.
Opponents of the law should also reach out and build coalitions with law enforcement groups that expressed early opposition to stand your ground laws.
There has been some openness to change the situation that put Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, in the position to pursue Martin. There is currently a bill in the Florida legislature that would require the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to develop county or municipal police training programs for neighborhood watch program and not allow immunity to aggressor in a situation. This and more needs to be done to repeal or amend stand your ground laws.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune.)
