The Laws Regarding Stand Your Ground Not Being Equally Applied

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Trayvon Martin was shot and killed on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was the neighborhood watch coordinator. The laws regarding Stand your ground was only applying to Mr. Zimmerman and he was acquitted on July 13, 2013. Why did this law only apply to George Zimmerman and not Trayvon Martin? Debate Final The night of February 26, 2012 Trayvon Martin was visiting with his father, he had been suspended from school for a third time. He had troubles in his junior year of high school for tardiness, drug paraphernalia, and vandalism. No charges had ever been filed against him for any of the infractions. Trayvon and his father were visiting his father’s fiancée and her son at The Retreat at Twin Lakes, which was a gated community, on the evening Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. The shooting and the arrest of George Zimmerman has been extremely controversial; from racial profiling, what the role of a neighborhood watch program is, and where the rights of Trayvon Martin were when the crime was committed against him. The police had been called to the community of The Retreat at Twin Lakes 402 times for crimes that had been committed including; burglaries, thefts, and a shooting. In September 2011 the residents of the community had established a neighborhood watch. George Zimmerman was selected as their watch commander and he was licensed to carry a firearm. Mr. Zimmerman’s role was driving around the area regularly to watch for any type of suspicious activity and, report it to local law enforcement. On the night of February 26, 2012 Trayvon Martin had walked to the store to buy some skittles and an iced tea. Mr. Zimmerman had come across Mr. Martin walking home around 7:09pm... ... middle of paper ... ...11 phone calls not one person came out of their house to help. If one person would have come out of the house to help or if Zimmerman would have just stayed in his car Martin would still be alive today. Works Cited 1. National Crime Prevention Council. (2014). Neighborhood Watch. Retrieved from National Crime Prevention Council: http://www.ncpc.org/topics/home-and-neighborhood-safety/neighborhood-watch 2. The Florida Legislature. (2013). The 2013 Florida Statutes. Retrieved from Online Sunshine: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0776/Sections/0776.013.html 3. Racial Profiling. (n.d.) West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. (2008). Retrieved March 30 2014 from http://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Racial+Profiling 4. CRIMESIDER PRESS. (2012). Crimesider. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com

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