. . an open-ended law in a particular state called the "Stand Your Ground" law. This law allowed people to defend themselves with deadly force as long as they "reasonably believed" it was necessary to protect themselves.
In this state there was a very bad man who found the opportunity to invoke this law, claiming he was acting in self-defense, and was forced to kill an unarmed teenager. The unarmed teenager happened to make a phone call to a friend only minutes before his death, which made it clear the teenager did not pose a violent threat to the very bad man, calling public attention to a law that clears a suspect from prosecution if the state does not find evidence to dispute their claim of self-defense.
In short, this was a very bad law.
The law extended what has been called the Castle Doctrine, which asserts that a person has the right to defend his or her home with deadly force if they are in "fear of great bodily injury." Unlike similar laws across the country, this particular state's provision does not require residents to retreat before using lethal force -- whether it be with a gun, knife or baseball bat -- against a home intruder, a concept that is based upon the English common-law idea that an individual's home is their "castle."
With this very bad law a person no longer needs to prove that they feared for their safety, only that the individual they shot, even if unarmed, had forcefully and unlawfully intruded. Unlike the initial Castle Doctrine, the newer law extends the principle to vehicles and public places and also does away with an earlier requirement that said a person attacked in a public place must retreat if it is a viable option.
Many people involved did NOT live happily ever after.
What do YOU think?
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