[edwinland]

Someone posted the link to the actual decision above and it’s worth reading. I haven’t finished it yet but it’s pretty clear that the idea that “the legislature makes the law and the judiciary applies it” is not that simple under the Florida constitution. The judge’s point is that the power to make procedural rules for the court in Florida is vested not in the legislature but in the Florida Supreme court, and the judge is not objecting to the concept of stand your ground but the way it is implemented procedurally in Florida. So far I still think his argument is a stretch but I will say it’s not as simple as you would think just reading the article.

[FreedomNotSafety]

Thank you! You read the decision, gave it some thought, and kindly shared your findings with us. MFRGA! We should be able to give votes to the value of a reply/post similar to Amazon. You would be a top “reviewer”.

[CharlesWayneCT]

It’s rarely as simple as it is for people who post without reading the article. Reading makes things much more complicated. Better to just comment. :)

The real problem is the headline is “fake news”. The judge was not ruling on “stand your ground”, but now a million people are cheering that “stand your ground” was found “unconstitutional”. And when they find that is not true, they won’t blame the media, they’ll find someone they already hate to blame.

Also, technically, the judge did NOT rule that requiring what this law requires would be “unconstitutional” either. What he ruled “unconstitutional” was the legislature doing it. So, it is possible that the legislature could get the supreme court to adopt their procedure. Heck, since I think there are elections for judges, the people could elect judges that would implement that procedure, I suppose.

[Rik0Shay]

Correct. Nice to see someone else actually reads the decision.

[Cboldt]

The judge says all burden issues are matters of procedure, and so are set by SCOFLA, not by the legislature, unless by 2/3rds majority.

But see the following Florida Satutes that contain burden material:

768.72 Pleading in civil actions; claim for punitive damages
768.725 Punitive damages; burden of proof
775.027 Insanity defense
777.201 Entrapment

[DBeers]

The judge’s point is that the power to make procedural rules for the court in Florida is vested not in the legislature but in the Florida Supreme court

I would suggest that the judge is errantly defining the law as a a procedural rule; IOW he created a straw man and then knocked it down...

Unless the legislature forbade the judiciary from crafting procedural rules to comply with the law, there should be no problem....

[Steely eyed killer of the deep]

The FL state constitution gives the judiciary branch the power to make and enforce procedural court law. So the FL supreme court could sustain, reverse or clarify how “stand your ground” is procedurally implemented in the courts, or the FL legislature keep this law by re-voting and obtaining a 2/3 majority in both houses.