Grace St. Jeanos is a Sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University. She is majoring in Economics.
On February 26th, 2012, self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman fatally shot African American teenager Trayvon Martin. As Martin attempted his walk home, Zimmerman flagged the teenager as “suspicious” and pursued him against police instruction.[i] The events that followed would cost Trayvon Martin his life, just three weeks after his 17th birthday. Nevertheless, Zimmerman walked free on July 13th, 2013. It was Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” laws that echoed in his ultimate acquittal.[ii]
In 2005, the Florida State Legislature became the first of several states to introduce “Stand Your Ground” laws, fundamentally uprooting the face of self-defense legislation.[iii] Prior to 2005, states required individuals to retreat, if possible, from situations of perceived threat before resorting to the use of force. Contrary to this “duty to retreat,” “Stand Your Ground” laws permit individuals—who are engaged in lawful activity and in a legally permitted place—to employ force, including deadly force, under the presumption that it is necessary to prevent death, great bodily harm, or the commission of a forcible felony.[iv] Furthermore, in 2017, Florida introduced a new law such that “once a prima facie claim of self-defense immunity from criminal prosecution has been raised by the defendant at a pretrial immunity hearing, the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence is on the party seeking to overcome the immunity.”[v] Consequently, the prosecution undertakes the burden of disproving self-defense immunity, an incredibly uphill battle in cases like Martin’s where the alleged aggressors are unable to tell their side of the story.
Despite the “shoot first, think later” stereotype, supporters of “Stand Your Ground” laws argue that they uphold a U.S. citizen’s fundamental right to self-defense. Proponents of this argument, like members of the National Rifle Association (“N.R.A”), claim that “Stand Your Ground” laws effectively deter crimes by immunizing those who engage in self-defense. However, the expansion of self-defense rights “has been associated with modest increases in violent crime rates on average across the United States but robust increases in some states, most notably Florida.”[vi] These statistics not only suggest claims like the N.R.A.’s are unfounded but that lenient self-defense laws are correlated with higher violent crime rates in the U.S.. As crucial as this correlation is, it does not even begin to touch on the racial implications of “Stand Your Ground” laws. According to a 2005-2010 study of data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations Supplementary Homicide Report, “White-on-Black homicides were more likely to be ruled justified (11.4 percent) while Black-on-White homicides were least likely to be ruled justified (1.2 percent).”[vii] Moreover, while rulings in favor of self-defense immunity saw a statistically significant increase in White-on-White, Black-on-Black, and White-on-Black homicides under “Stand Your Ground” laws, there was no such statistically significant rise observed in Black-on-White homicides.[viii] These findings point to serious racial disparities in justified homicide rulings, a dire echo of the inherent subjectivity of U.S. legislation.
Even in cases where “Stand Your Ground” laws fail to supply self-defense immunity, they nonetheless encourage reckless engagement in self-appointed justice systems. Such was true for Michael Dunn, a man convicted and serving a life sentence for fatally shooting teenager Jordan Davis after an altercation over loud music.[ix] While Dunn’s verdict ostensibly aligned with justice, it neither revived 17-year-old Jordan Davis nor spared his family from inconceivable pain. Thus, irrespective of guilt, “Stand Your Ground” laws promote deadly irresponsibility, especially at the hands of firearm owners. These effects are even more daunting today after Florida Governor Ron Desantis’s 2023 new legislation “allowing residents to carry a concealed loaded weapon without a permit.”[x] Governor Desantis’s signature erodes the requirement for both background checks and training for lawful Florida gun owners in a state where gun control is already concernably non-restrictive. In the wake of Florida’s thirty 2023 mass shootings, this decision underscores just how pervasive guns have become, not only in the culture of the United States but also in its legislation.[xi]
Florida’s union of lenient gun laws and “Stand Your Ground” laws perpetuate a hostile, vigilantist attitude towards crime, one riddled with the racist and implicit biases rampant in our culture. Deaths like Trayvon Martin’s point to the desperate need for reform in the now 38 states that have “[s]tand your ground statutes or legal precedents” supporting such statutes, as well as a necessary departure from the United States’s grotesque obsession with lethal self-defense.[xii] States with a duty to retreat, like New York, prioritize de-escalation of violent conflict while still permitting defensive force in situations of necessity. While some criticize the added burden of considering retreat in potentially deadly settings, the duty to retreat is vital in reducing both unnecessary harm and the fatal impacts of our inherent biases.
[i] Jerome Horton, Trayvon Martin shooting fast facts CNN (2023), https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/05/us/trayvon-martin-shooting-fast-facts/index.html (last visited Feb 2, 2024).
[ii] Id.
[iii] Florida stand your ground law: Use of deadly force in self-defense, Hussein & Webber (2017), https://www.husseinandwebber.com/case-work/criminal-defense-articles/floridas-stand-ground-law/ (last visited Feb 2, 2024).
[iv] Fla. Stat. § 776.012(2) (2023).
[v] Fla. Stat. § 776.032(4) (2023).
[vi] Alexa R. Yakubovich et al., Effects of laws expanding civilian rights to use deadly force in self-defense on violence and crime: A systematic review American journal of public health (2021), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7958062/ (last visited Feb 2, 2024).
[vii] John K. Roman, NCJRS Virtual Library Race, Justifiable Homicide, and Stand Your Ground Laws: Analysis of FBI Supplementary Homicide Report Data | Office of Justice Programs (2013), https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/race-justifiable-homicide-and-“Stand Your Ground”-laws-analysis-fbi#1-0 (last visited Feb 2, 2024).
[viii] Id.
[ix] Lindsay Whitehurst & Curt Anderson, “stand your ground” laws proliferate after Trayvon Spotlight AP News (2022), https://apnews.com/article/trayvon-martin-florida-homicide-gun-politics-3907568281565b8cc191fcc66aadf318 (last visited Feb 2, 2024).
[x] Matt Dixon, Ron DeSantis quietly signs permitless concealed carry law NBCNews.com (2023), https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/ron-desantis-quietly-signs-permitless-concealed-carry-law-rcna77934 (last visited Feb 2, 2024).
[xi] Gun violence archive, Gun Violence Archive, https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting?page=5&year=2023&sort=asc&order=State (last visited Feb 2, 2024).
[xii] Jonathan Jones et al., Stand your ground laws are proliferating. and more people are dying. Reveal (2022), https://revealnews.org/article/”Stand Your Ground”-laws-increase-deaths/ (last visited Feb 2, 2024).
