Florida’s Stand Your Ground law not only distorts criminal justice for the victims of this special interest statute, it essentially eliminates civil liability for acts of aggression that would otherwise be compensable in the civil justice system. With the unnecessary death of Trayvon Martin last month in Sanford, the state of Florida is once again at the forefront of national and world attention. This time, it is not hanging chads that have made Florida the most curious state in the country. Now it is the kill-at-will-and-with-impunity law that has erupted in international skepticism.
The law, Florida Statute 776.013, allows individuals to use deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm. It embraces a subjective standard, often with no witness or victim testimony. Such force was once only permitted inside one’s home (one’s “castle”). But the Legislature, lobbied relentlessly by the National Rifle Association and other law-and-order groups, changed the law in 2005. Now individuals no longer have a duty to retreat from danger but instead have a license to kill when they feel threatened with serious injury.
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