Posted on 03/25/2012 12:42:39 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
The Justice Department should look into the “Stand Your Ground” laws that kept Florida police from arresting the man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, New York’s senior senator said Sunday.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he wrote the Justice Department asking them to expand their review of Martin’s death to include the impact of Florida’s and other states “Stand Your Ground” Laws.
“Stand Your Ground laws is a whole new concept,” Schumer told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Some people call it shoot first, ask questions later,” he said.
The laws generally grant immunity to anyone who uses deadly force, inside or outside of his home, if the shooter can reasonably claim he was defending himself.
“The laws all passed very, very quickly and I think the states who passed them, if they find the real facts, may decide to repeal them,” Schumer said, noting a survey of 13 cases by the Florida Sun-Sentinel that found 12 of the victims had not been armed.
Florida was the first of 21 states to pass such laws since 2005. The Sunshine State’s version allows police on the scene to decide whether they believe a shooter’s claims of self-defense.
In Trayvon Martin’s case, police have said they did the right thing by not charging 28-year-old George Zimmerman, a member of a citizens' watch, with the shooting.
Court-watchers say in other cases, cops make an arrest and then let the courts figure out if the use of deadly force was legally justified.
Schumer said he wants Justice officials to see whether these new laws “actually increase violence rather than decrease violence, and whether they actually prevent law enforcement from prosecuting cases where real crime has been committed.”
Zimmerman told police Martin attacked him after he had given up chasing the boy and he was returning to his truck. He had a bloody nose and blood on the back of his head, according to police.
Martin's family doubt Zimmerman's story and argue if the shooter was black there is no doubt he would have been arrested.
His neighbors, some of whom are African American, some Hispanics, and some Caucasian, apparently disagree. They picked him, and most, including one African American, defend him still. The gated neighborhood is not all that large. About 500 x 750 feet. If you want to look at it, the clubhouse is at 1111 Retreat View Circle, Sanford, FL.
Well what do you expect of Old Lizard Face, as I often think of him.
While he did not live there, he was visiting his father and his father's fiancee, who did live there, a couple of buildings (as in apartment/townhouse buildings) away from where the shooting occurred. By counting driveways, and/or garage doors, the buildings appear to contain 5 or 6 units.
It could have been anyone who defended himself against a youth of color, even an Hispanic guy. What was he to do once the kid started beating on him? Just let him continue until he got tired?
But, that said, stand your ground really doesn't enter into it, if you find yourself on your back being beaten, it's then a plain self defense case, as long as you were not the one TO INITIATE force. Following and talking to someone doesn't count as "initiating force".
Because the kid did not live there. he was visiting at the residence of his father's fiancee, who did. If they didn't report to the watch group that they had a teenage visitor, there's no way he could have known that the kid did have a valid reason to be in the complex.
It's not so much a neighborhood as it is a townhouse/apartment complex. Fenced, two gates. Zimmerman mentions both gates during his the call to the police. Don't know if the gates were open or closed at that time of night.
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