Officials Protest 'Secret' Plan to Close LICH - Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Officials Protest 'Secret' Plan to Close LICH - Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Officials Protest 'Secret' Plan to Close LICH - Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Review and Comment<br />
‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws<br />
Should be Challenged<br />
It didn’t take long. Three days after a jury found George Zimmerman not<br />
guilty in the murder of Trayvon Martin, the Justice Department said it will take<br />
a “hard look” at a new type of self-defense law known as “stand your ground.”<br />
Florida and nearly two dozen other states have passed such laws since<br />
2005 in a campaign led by the National Rifle Association. The laws get rid<br />
of an old legal doctrine that anyone confronted by a dangerous person has<br />
a “duty <strong>to</strong> retreat” rather than shoot. And the laws provide greater legal leniency<br />
<strong>to</strong>ward killers who claim they acted out of fear of harm or death.<br />
That’s one reason Florida officials hesitated in arresting Mr. Zimmerman.<br />
He wasn’t charged until 44 days after the shooting. And even though<br />
his legal defense relied on a traditional self-defense argument rather than<br />
Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, the judge’s instructions <strong>to</strong> the jury specifically<br />
mentioned the law’s provision.<br />
While it is doubtful a Justice Department probe can make a legal challenge<br />
against the state laws, the federal scrutiny is needed. Homicide rates<br />
have risen 7 <strong>to</strong> 9 percent in states with stand-your-ground laws compared<br />
with other states, according <strong>to</strong> a 2012 Texas A&M study. And findings by<br />
Georgia State University “raise serious doubts against the argument that<br />
Stand Your Ground laws make [the] public safer.”<br />
The laws “senselessly expand the concept of self-defense,” At<strong>to</strong>rney<br />
General Eric Holder said Tuesday. They “try <strong>to</strong> fix something that was never<br />
broken” and have “victimized <strong>to</strong>o many who are innocent.”<br />
In addition <strong>to</strong> the Justice probe, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights began<br />
an investigation last May <strong>to</strong> see if stand-your-ground laws encourage racial<br />
killings. A study published by the Urban Institute found more homicides were<br />
likely <strong>to</strong> be deemed justified in states with stand-your-ground laws than in other<br />
states, while shootings of blacks by whites “were likely <strong>to</strong> go unpunished.”<br />
But the main reason <strong>to</strong> challenge these laws is that they reverse the<br />
course of his<strong>to</strong>ry. The rise of civilization has relied in large part on humans<br />
handing over the control and use of violence for protection and defense <strong>to</strong><br />
the government. Societies built on moral codes that tell individuals “thou<br />
shall not kill” have proved <strong>to</strong> be more long-lasting. At a deeper level, they reflect<br />
an expanding respect for life, not just for family or nation, but for all.<br />
Stand-your-ground laws give <strong>to</strong>o much authority back <strong>to</strong> individuals <strong>to</strong><br />
decide the places or circumstances in which they can use violence. Many<br />
people have only a vague understanding of the laws’ legal distinctions or<br />
are able <strong>to</strong> assess the probability of harm being done <strong>to</strong> them. Other people<br />
may purposely kill off a harmless opponent, claiming a threat was imminent<br />
and with little risk of being charged.<br />
“When you make it easier for people <strong>to</strong> use deadly force, you get more<br />
of it,” said Mark Hoekstra, an associate professor of economics at Texas<br />
A&M University and the lead author of the 2012 study, which found these<br />
laws cause an additional 500 <strong>to</strong> 700 homicides each year.<br />
The popularity of the laws reflects growing distrust or lack of faith in government.<br />
“Lynchings, riots, civil disobedience and vigilantism are all expressions<br />
of individual or collective action that reject both legal norms and the<br />
authority of state ac<strong>to</strong>rs,” writes Columbia University law professor Jeffrey<br />
Fagan. If that is the case, then America’s political system needs urgent repair.<br />
Laws that make it easier <strong>to</strong> shoot first and ask questions later are not a hallmark<br />
of human progress. At a practical level, they seem <strong>to</strong> increase homicides,<br />
not stem them. For that reason alone, states with the laws have a duty <strong>to</strong> retreat.<br />
—The Christian Science Moni<strong>to</strong>r’s Edi<strong>to</strong>rial Board<br />
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4 • <strong>Brooklyn</strong> <strong>Daily</strong> <strong>Eagle</strong> • Friday, July 19, 2013