ipl-logo

Stand Your Ground Laws: The Case Of Rodriguez V. State

959 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on issues with the stand your ground law

Trayvon Martin was only seventeen years old when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida. Martin was on the phone with his girlfriend prior to the shooting, not partaking in any sort of criminal activity. He was carrying a bag of Skittles in his pocket, not a weapon of any kind. Despite this, Zimmerman claimed he shot Martin in “self-defense”. He was charged with second-degree murder, but found not guilty. This verdict sparked an outrage, igniting a flame for justice under the American people. Nation-wide rallies and protests put Florida’s self-defense laws under fire; in particular its stand your ground laws. Stand your ground laws are cemented around a person being able to use whatever force they …show more content…

State exemplifies that the effects of stand your ground laws are a prominent issue in society. On a Texas night in 2010, retired firefighter Raul Rodriguez shot and killed his neighbor, Kelly Danaher, over loud music coming from a party Danaher was throwing. Rodriguez, in an attempt to defend himself in court, tried to invoke his right to stand his ground, but nevertheless was convicted. The Texas stand your ground laws gave Rodriguez a sense of power he never should have felt he possessed. Since Rodriguez knew he would be able to invoke his right to stand his ground, he did not think nearly as much as he should have about shooting his neighbor because he was led to believe that he could just say it was in “self-defense”. There is even a recording of the incident in which he said, “Now, I’m standing my ground here.” Rodriguez, very deliberately, made reference to the Texas law. This further illustrates how Rodriguez understood, but completely misconstrued the stand your ground law and morphed it to fit his current situation. Harris County Assistant District Attorney, Donna Logan explained how Rodriguez “felt he had the ultimate control, the control to decide who lives and who dies.” This belief of Rodriguez’s ultimately led to him thinking that he had the right to kill an innocent man. If the stand your grounds laws were repealed and replaced with the more sensible duty to retreat, then the law would not be able to be so grossly

Show More
Related

Summary Of The Trayvon Martin V. George Zimmerman Case

758 Words | 4 Pages

An most common legal court case that has encouraged my decision to pursue a career in law was the Trayvon Martin v.s. George Zimmerman case. This case was about an 17-year-old African American young male adult was shot by George Zimmerman in "self defense". This happened on February 26th, 2012 at night when Trayvon was walking home and Zimmerman called the cops saying it looked like he was up to no good. To sum it up, Trayvon was fatally shot by Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, in Sanford, Florida. This case was basically related in the racism category due to profiling and stereotypes.

Read More

What Is The Topic Selection George Zimmerman Case

885 Words | 4 Pages

There were different stories about the encounter; according to Zimmerman, Trayvon was the one that attacked him after he was returning to his car. Trayvon punched him in the nose, and he yelled for help, and it got to the point where Zimmerman felt he could not breathe; however, Jeantel stated Trayvon was the one yelling for Zimmerman to get off before the call ended. During the altercation, Zimmerman thought Trayvon was going for his firearm, so he "grabbed it immediately," saying, "I just pulled my firearm and shot him" (George Zimmerman trial). This case was tried as self-defense, and the jury found Zimmerman "not guilty of murder or manslaughter, but the jury agreed that Mr. Zimmerman could have been justified in shooting Mr. Martin because he feared great bodily

Read More

Was Jordan Castro Innocent Until Proven Guilty

816 Words | 4 Pages

The City of Houston has experienced an outbreak of such police-involved shootings of unarmed individuals, particularly African-Americans. This happens so often that they are defacto City policy. Nonetheless, the City of Houston has not done anything to address the uncontrollable shooting of unarmed individuals by its officers. And, like Officer Castro, the City has not been held accountable for its actions or inactions dealing with the shooting of unarmed individuals, like Baker, by its officers, like Castro. This action, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which states that, “Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable.

Read More

Summary Of The 1989 Case Of Dethorne Graham

781 Words | 4 Pages

The 1989 case of Graham v. Connor follows the story of Dethorne Graham, and his interaction with a City of Charlotte police officer, M.S. Connor, and how the actions taken by Connor on the day in question had violated the fourteenth amendment’s due process and equal protection clauses. While police presence and involvement in our communities is vital to the success of a community, the infringement of an individual's rights based upon presumption without reason stands to be an incredible threat to liberty. Connor’s use of excessive force in the detainment of Graham. This case is a strong one for the reform of police protocol, as well as for the protocol for excessive force, and the reasonable person standard. The decision of this case is attributed

Read More

The Controversial Story Of Michael Brown

155 Words | 1 Pages

The author of ‘USA Today’ speaks about the controversial story of what really happened regarding the Michael Brown shooting. The author explains how in the first story, it was said that officer Darren Wilson was harassing Michael Brown for walking in the middle of the street, leading up to him hitting Michael Brown with the car door and proceeding to shoot him several times. Meanwhile, in the second story the author tells how Michael Brown reaches into the squad car while officer Darren Wilson was in it, hitting him in the face and reaching for the gun; causing the officer to release fire as defense. The author also stated that even with evidence from eyewitnesses, the grand jury determined that the shooting was a lawful tragedy, and not

Read More

Cause And Effect On George Zimmerman

1514 Words | 7 Pages

This incident was going on at around 7:00 p.m. and it was raining so the visibility conditions outside were not good. The dispatcher questioned Zimmerman about the race of the suspicious guy in which Zimmerman responded saying he might be black. There is no legal proof that race was part of the murder but it is possible that Zimmerman’s suspicion grew when he uncovered the fact that Trayvon was African American. There is absolutely no valid reason for Zimmerman to develop such great suspicion that he needed to get out of his truck to follow Trayvon and subsequently murder him. Trayvon did not possess any visible weapons or any other forms of harmful objects on him.

Read More

Stand Your Ground Law Research Paper

552 Words | 3 Pages

According to “YourBlackWorld” in Detroit, a man named Darrell Standberry was going inside to pay for gas, looking back at his car he saw a man get into the driver's seat of his car. Darrell and the man meeting eye to eye the man pulled out a gun and when Darrell saw what he had, Darrell pulled out his gun and shot the man as he was driving off causing him to crash and die from the gunshot wound Without the Stand Your Ground Law Darrell would have had consequences for stopping the car thief. Critics will argue that Stand Your Ground Law will promote violence. But statistics say otherwise, ever since Stand Your Ground Law launched in Florida It has decreased violent crime rates by 23%.---- The Stand Your Ground Law provides protection for U.S. Citizens.

Read More

Stand Your Ground (SYG) Law: Florida's Stand Your Ground Law

366 Words | 2 Pages

In 2005 Florida passed the country 's first titular Stand Your Ground (SYG) law. In only nine years after the SYG law had been passed in over twenty-three states, changing the lawful scene of self-protection. SYG law states that one has the right to use deadly force when his life, properties, family and home are in danger. Generally, the law means that one can shoot first and then ask questions. The Florida legislators, who passed the nation 's first SYG law, use every available opportunity to tell the story of James Workman, “an old man from Pensacola, FL. who shot an intruder who tried to loot his hurricane-destroyed home” (Montgomery, 2012).

Read More

Summary: A Look Into Racial Profiling

399 Words | 2 Pages

A Look Into Racial Profiling The shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black teen, brutally shot by a neighborhood watchmen, George Zimmerman, brought up the discussion in America about a cruel, disgustingly common practice, racial profiling. Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a street smart boy living in Miami Gardens, Florida. He was home, visiting his father after a drug-related suspension from school. When Martin was calling his girlfriend, he was seen by the watchman, Zimmerman.

Read More

How To Kill An African-American Man Essay

458 Words | 2 Pages

All across America, an epidemic of law enforcement perverting their power over the people has broken out. Statistics show that, every eight hours, someone’s life is taken away by the very people who are supposed to protect it. An African-American man is about twice as likely to be executed by an officer as a Caucasian man, whether they pose a threat or not. Jess Colarossi from ThinkProgress.org reported that, “several Delaware police officers wound up fatally shooting the wheelchair-bound man.”

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Stand Your Ground Law

1231 Words | 5 Pages

The law has the most leading homicide with the the murder not in jail. In addition, ¨ A national debate and massive rallies contesting “stand your ground”laws followed the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman last year, and then increased again earlier this year with Zimmerman’s acquitted based on his argument that he shot the 17-year-old in self defense. Critics say such laws are enforced unevenly, and people of color, especially young African Americans, are hurt by these laws more than whites. ¨ ( National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 2013 ). This connects to the topic because it supports that more cases of a homicide are increasing.

Read More

Stop And Frisk Pros And Cons

1612 Words | 7 Pages

The Controversial Stop and Frisk Policy in the United States In recent times, police brutality has become an increasingly recognized issue in our society. A large proponent of this issue is due to the policy of “Stop and Frisk” and I argue that this policy is a direct violation of human rights in this country and is fundamentally counterproductive in the nation’s commitment to liberty, democracy, and political equality. The United States of America, has struggled with the war against crime and is constantly trying to find ways to lower crime rates and create a safer America and in doing so the government has passed many controversial laws, such as the stop and frisk policy which can be seen as targeting specific racial populations, as well

Read More

Police Brutality

1331 Words | 6 Pages

Police Brutality in Relation to the Ineffectiveness of Body Cameras. In their article, “Body Cameras Worn by Police are No ‘Safeguard of Truth,’ Experts Say”, Vivian Yee and Kirk Johnson emphasize on how body cameras are not effective enough to prevent police brutality against American citizens. A grand jury found out that innocent African American Men's’ rights are not being considered when they are been brutally beaten by the police. As a result, the grand jury’s solution to this problem was to create a law that forces police officers to wear body cameras when they are in the act of arresting their victims.

Read More

Argumentative Essay On Stand Your Ground

1951 Words | 8 Pages

A controversial issue facing the United States is the creation and use of Stand Your Ground laws. Stand Your Ground laws allow those who fear they are in imminent danger to use deadly force in self-defense to protect themselves, their property, and others without having to first retreat. 33 states in the U.S. have adopted Stand Your Ground laws following its creation in Florida in 2005, and with it, a major debate has arisen. People who are in favor of the laws believe that they allow citizens to fully protect their property and themselves from possible danger without having to fear prosecution. Those who are not in favor believe that the laws have led to an increase in unnecessary violence and wrongful deaths, along with causing other issues in the country.

Read More

Racial Profiling: The Cause Of Police Brutality

505 Words | 3 Pages

He got out of his SUV and approached Martin. Without warning, Zimmerman cold-bloodedly shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Reasons like this is why we need not only more trained officers, but also ones who are mentally able to keep calm in situations like

Read More

More about Stand Your Ground Laws: The Case Of Rodriguez V. State

Related Topics

Open Document