This opinion piece comes to us by way of hyper-lefty E.J.Dionne, who’s writing exactly what Lefties thing and proposing what they want. Well, want for Everyone Else. The minute they themselves need Stand Your Ground, they’ll scream to the high heavens for protection
Repeal stand-your-ground laws
The law is supposed to solve problems, not create them. Laws should provide as much clarity as possible, not expand the realms of ambiguity and subjectivity. Laws ought to bring about the practical results their promoters claim they’ll achieve. And at its best, the law can help us to live together more harmoniously.
By all these measures, “stand your ground†laws are a failure. These statutes make the already difficult task of jurors even harder. They aggravate mistrust across racial lines. They appear to increase, rather than decrease, crime.
OK, so a few issues here and there mean the entire concept of the law has failed? Perhaps E.J. could provide a link to some study to back his assertion of mistrust across racial lines.
Dionne goes on to discuss the Dunn trial, and mentions George Zimmerman, in relation to SYG.
We shouldn’t fault the Dunn jury, which seemed to struggle to reach a just outcome. Unlike Zimmerman, the 47-year-old Dunn was not acquitted and could spend the rest of his life in prison. The jury clearly saw no justification for his firing at a fleeing car. But the stand-your-ground law undoubtedly sowed confusion on the murder count.
Actually, we should fault the jury, and prosecutor. The defense attempted to make a valid point in order to sow confusion in order to get his client off, despite it not being about SYG. And did to a degree, regarding the 1st degree murder charge, which I personally thought was a big stretch. In the Zimmerman case, the did not bring up SYG.
Florida’s statute allows someone to use force if he or she “reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force.†The “reasonable belief†standard is not unique to stand-your-ground laws, but it opens a vast loophole for extreme subjectivity when it is applied in conjunction with them. This has created problems that even the law’s supporters should acknowledge.
Which is apparently Bad. Say, I wonder if Dionne has armed protection at the NY Times building? Yes, there are armed security guards. How about that? As far as “reasonable belief” goes, no, that is not perfect. Liberals would probably prefer that people who carry weapons, since they can’t get those dratted carry laws repealed, have a long list of conditions they must read through before defending themselves.
Stand-your-ground laws shift the balance of power on the streets to those who carry weapons. They thus provide an incentive for everyone to be armed, which is why the National Rifle Association has pressured legislatures in some two dozen states to enact them. We shouldn’t have to wait for another death and controversial trial to recognize that this is a poor reason for laws that cause such palpable harm. It’s time to repeal them.
Actually, they shift power into the hands of the law abiding citizens over the criminal elements. Like this mom, whose home had been broken into just a mere 2 weeks prior to the second criminal act
As three teenagers rushed into the house, Mom “didn’t have time to get scared,†she told WXYZ-TV in Detroit.
She warned the intruders she had a gun. Upon hearing their “no you don’t†reply, Mom figured they needed some convincing….and opened fire.
The teens’ entrance — and mighty swift exit — was all caught on the newly installed security cameras.
One of the teens picked his gun back up and attempted to go back inside. Another scary blast from mom’s shotgun sent him fleeing. This would be a case of SYG under Michigan law.
Will people misuse SYG? Sure. Welcome to life, where people are not perfect, and there are always jerks. And lest you think this is just cranky E.J. Dionne yapping, the Michael Dunn defense successfully bringing up SYG to avoid the 1st degree murder charge has sent the liberal nags wagging, such as at US News and World Report, CNN, and Al Jazeera. Liberals would prefer that no one is allowed to defend themselves, especially with scary guns, from the crime that liberal policies create in the first place.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
Read: Washington Post: Repeal All Stand Your Ground Laws »
A new study broadens a notion held by the earliest criminologists: Periods of higher temperatures — on an hour-by-hour or week-to-week basis — are likely to produce more crime.
