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Posted on 07/16/2013 7:25:38 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Since the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, countless journalists and pundits have attempted to blame Florida’s laws for the outcome. All of these references seem to share a misunderstanding of those laws and the relevant facts. Salon’s Emily Bazelon claimed that people should “blame the state’s bad laws for Trayvon Martin’s death.” An even better example is the Washington Post’s Wonkbook:
Florida’s gun laws, for instance, makes cases like this one likely and even inevitable. Would Zimmerman have left his car and followed Martin without the comfort of the cold steel strapped to his body? It’s unlikely. But Florida’s laws are such that the kind of people who want to get out of their car and tail teenagers who scare them can carry guns when they do it, and Florida’s laws are such that if there’s then a confrontation and the gun goes off, the person holding the gun is very likely to walk free.
As with other articles making these claims, the references are very general and not actually supported by evidence. Wonkbook’s first reference to Florida’s laws pertains to concealed-carry legislation. All 50 states have passed laws allowing some form of concealed carry. Furthermore, firearm violence in Florida recently hit an all-time low, even while the state has issued significantly more concealed-carry permits than any other state. We can disagree about causality, but there is zero statistical evidence to support the claim that gun violence is more common because of such laws.
Wonkbook’s second reference to Florida’s laws is clearly referring to the state’s self-defense statute, §776.013(3). Countless members of the media, including the New York Times editorial board, have incorrectly claimed that Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law was responsible for Zimmerman’s acquittal. However, as Reason’s Jacob Sullum pointed out, this law actually had no impact on the case. Zimmerman’s defense invoked only the regular self-defense portions of the statute listed above, which is very similar to the self-defense requirements of almost every other state. In other words, if this case had been tried elsewhere and the jury considered similar factual findings, the outcome would probably have been the same.
There is one legal concept that many of the media critics seem to be taking issue with: the requirement that the prosecution prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This requirement, of course, is in no way limited to Florida’s laws. The American legal system adopted that standard based on the assumption that it is better that a guilty person go free than an innocent one go to jail. These journalists are free to argue that this standard, which has been central to our criminal-justice system since at least 1798, should be changed in the aftermath of one outcome they do not support. But rejecting this standard should not be confused with exposing a deficiency in Florida’s laws.
— Allen Ginzburg is a licensed attorney.
From the very start, the ONLY people I’ve seen bringing up the FL Stand Your Ground law are the media and FReepers.
Apparently we are supposed to think of the Second Amendment the same way we have recently been told to think about the freedom of religion: it’s our God-given right, but woe to those who dare to exercise it in public.
Totally right, Roccus.
We even have deniers on FR who haven’t reached the right conclusion: this was all about gun control via judicial activism.
I’ve also been saying the same thing. This case is all about gun control.
It will be cited more than Sandy Hook ever was. TM will be the poster boy for gun control.
The media has been using the Zimmerman trial as a platform for the most extensive propaganda and myth program I’ve seen since they took over the fed govt in 2008. They have made the defendent white, claimed the incident was about race, stated the defendent was told things that he was not told, and many other fictions including that “stand your ground” was to blame.
How many lies can be told before this runs its course? From the responses of the celebs and athletes I read yesterday, it appears the least informed Americans are still clueless so I will infer that a large part of the population remains fooled or complicit.
There was always an anti-freedom and anti-self defense plan in this just as there was a plan to increase racial polarization and violence. That is why this case has been so popular with the media. No other issue has the potential to move their ideology along.
If it’s about gun control it isn’t working for me.
If Zimmerman hadn’t been armed he would be dead.
I want a carry permit.
Excuse my rant, but I am fed up with all the hype and misinformation spread by the media. For example, Mystery Writers of America (MWA) gave the Edgar Award for Best FACT Crime book this year to "Midnight in Peking." Yet the author presented distortions regarding White Russians (see June blog at link
Then, entertainment programs keep inserting false info about Sarah Palin and others. Recently I just twice turned on Jay Leno and both times he attacked her. D. Letterman has done the same. On talk shows, and outright lies are not challenge and person sprouting nonsense are given a pass.
Where was the media after the horrific nightmare tortures of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome? Where was the sympathy for their parents when they heard of the rapes and bleach being forced down the throat of the victim?
I'd say GZ did an acceptable job of gun control so I have no problem with the gun-control crowd using TM for their efforts as it will only ensure those with functioning brains see it for the appeal to emotion that it is. Many of those reacting to that emotionally will put themselves in Zimmerman's place and realize they don't want to be defenseless against the likes of Trayvon.
I strongly encourage you to get it now.
Here’s the reality whether we like it or not: Trayvon’s death wasn’t about race, guns, or anybody’s pet issue.
It was about misjudgment and overreaction — exactly what many people (mostly politicians and race hustlers) doing now to the verdict.
I agree. I wondered why all this fuss over the story. It got far more attention than Benghazi or scores of other far more tragic death involving multiple killings. But yes, this is a chance to push gun control.
If must be handy to be omniscient.
Trayvon was a murder looking for a place to happen. He was planning on it's being somebody else' murder, but it didn't work out that way.
The role of the media in this case is disgusting. The talking heads keep getting more and more shrill.
The Battle of Athens Part II, may be coming if this crap keeps up.
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