According to the dictionary, self defense is defined as a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one’s property or the well being of another from harm. Since childhood parents have instilled this dogma onto their children just as it was instilled onto them. In the past decade the self-defense doctrine has morphed into what is now known as the Stand Your Ground Law. The law essentially permits anyone feeling threatened in a confrontation to shoot his or her way out. Stand Your Ground was navigated through the Florida’s state Legislature with help from then-state Rep. Marco Rubio and signed into law by Bush on April 26, 2005. The law has rapidly spread and it now exists in various forms in twenty-five states (Weinstein). As popular and straightforward as this law may seem it should be repealed. The law contains various questionable and unethical conditions such as clarifications of the various provisions of the law, distinguishing a clear definition of self-defense, and the disproportionate effects on minorities support it being repealed.
There is a clear need for clarifications of the various provisions of the law. The exact outline of what constitutes as provocation varies by jurisdiction. Courts should apply a reasonableness standard to questions of provocation in self-defense cases. There are three confusing and contradictory standards currently in place for determining provocation exceptions in jurisdictions across the country: Any Provocation, Straight Provocation and Provocation with intent. These different frames are not mutually exclusive and the behavior that falls within one frame may also fall within another. Each frame falls short of providing an optimal rule for determining questions of provocation in self-...
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...ur Ground Laws And The Liberalization Of Self-Defense." University Of Toledo Law Review 43.2 (2012): 407-436. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
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The “Stand Your Ground” law was first adopted in the state of florida in 2005. This law did not gain national attention until the shooting death of unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Sanford, florida, where the shooter, George Zimmerman used the “Stand Your Ground” law as his basis for defending himself against Trayvon Martin to the Sanford Police Department. However, George Zimmerman’s legal defense team did not utilize the law to argue his innocence during his trial. But the damage had been done because soon after other cases in florida began to sprout up with “Stand Your Ground” as the driving force.
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With many recent incidents that involve guns between 2012 and 2013, gun control laws have become a hot topic in America. On one hand, after the horrific incident like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at Newtown in 2012, most people wanting to limit guns from getting into the wrong by setting up a rigorous system that control who can and cannot obtain a gun. On the other hand, we have the people who believe that with such rigorous system in place is violated the individual rights that granted and protected by the United States Constitution. They believe that the rigorous system will prevent people from defending themselves and could be a violation of their privacy. Regardless of which side is right, if we want to understand more about our current conflict, we have to look back on how this hold debate started. The District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court case in 2008 that found the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 unconstitutional, which influence the individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense by questioning the Second Amendment and laws that restrict a person from acquire guns.
Crime and guns. The two seem to go hand in hand with one another. But are the two really associated? Do guns necessarily lead to crime? And if so do laws placing restrictions on firearm ownership and use stop the crime or protect the citizens? These are the questions many citizens and lawmakers are asking themselves when setting about to create gun control laws. The debate over gun control, however, is nothing new. In 1924, Presidential Candidate, Robert La Follete said, “our choice is not merely to support or oppose gun control but to decide who can own which guns under what conditions.” Clearly this debate still goes on today and is the very reason for the formation of gun control laws.
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Self-defense is not something that should be taken lightly. Its dictionary definition is, “the act of defending one's person when physically
Whether police discriminate in their use of force during police stops has been a topic of debate recently due to the rise in shootings of unarmed, African-American men. Since discrimination is hard to measure and views on discrimination can differ depending on the circumstance, this is a hard question to answer. However, evidence from multiple studies can help those who do not yet have a position on this issue to form an opinion.
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It is a common knowledge within the criminal justice as well as the political realm that gun violence is a very complex and multi-facet issue. As a result, America requires practical and strong laws aimed at protecting innocent lives as well as the lives of the law enforcement
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