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Stand Your Ground Law Essay

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In recent years, the question of how self-defense is justified has been prominent in communities all over the nation. The “Stand your Ground” laws were enacted to give victims the right to fight back when faced with a life-threatening situation. Events that have occurred after enacting this law have brought forward anger and push back from communities who have been effected. The criminal justice system and the public frequently disagree on the pros and cons of the “Stand your Ground” laws and therefore not all states have passed it. This paper will discuss the origin of the “Stand your Ground” laws, the conflicts that have risen it, and the pros and cons.
A stand-your-ground law is a way that a criminal defendant can defend themselves with …show more content…

While advocates of stand your ground believe that it is empowering to people and is an enhancement of safety rights, critics believe that it can often be used as a racially motivated infringement on civil rights. A study of the racial and violent impacts of stand your ground at Texas A&M University found that murder increased by up to 8% in states that had adopted Stand your Ground laws. The conclusion was made that the implementation of these laws was a possible cause of increased homicide rates in these states. The increase in lethal force became seen as an inevitable effect of the stand your ground laws. Based on FBI crime statistics, it is more likely for white people’s actions to be found justifiable in the killing of a black person than it is for the case of black people killing white people. It was also found that in states where there are stand your ground laws, a white person was more likely to be exonerated for a killing than in states that did not have these laws. While the evidence is indicative of racial bias, there are still many other factors that can affect the outcomes of stand your ground cases. The data does not consider the location of the killing, nor does it consider the socioeconomic issues of the area. Stand your ground allows for broad interpretation depending on the circumstances surrounding the case, as well as the interpretation of many

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