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

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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 If the stand your grounds laws were repealed and replaced with the more sensible duty to retreat, then the law would not be able to be so grossly

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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.

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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.

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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.

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