Free Republic

One legacy of the George Zimmerman not-guilty verdict in the death of Trayvon Martin may be to buttress the use of firearms in self-defense – a reinforcement that has US officials and others worried that expansive new self-defense laws in the states could become vehicles for people to express their personal prejudices with gun violence. Attorney General Eric Holder raised the concern Tuesday during a speech to the NAACP, describing as "senseless" the self-defense doctrines that expand beyond defense of one's own home to self-protection in public places. Such laws allow “violent situations to escalate,” he charged. Even Juror B37,...

A member of the jury that found George Zimmerman not guilty in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin called for changes in Florida's self-defense law, which she said gave jurors no option but to acquit the defendant. The juror's statement adds to pleas from around the country to change the Stand Your Ground laws that more than 30 states have adopted. In Florida, demonstrators occupied a part of the governor's office demanding that the state repeal or curtail its 2005 law. With her identity kept secret, the juror, designated B-37, gave an interview to CNN on Monday...

An historical document from last night’s “Anderson Cooper.” Skip to 21:00 if you want to hear her describe the initial jury split (three for not guilty, two for manslaughter, one for second-degree murder), but I recommend starting no later than 10:00 in if you’re pressed for time in order to hear her take on Zimmerman himself. The only way the state was going to pinch him on second-degree murder was to convince the jury that he was a racist monster spoiling for a fight — the media version of Zimmerman, in other words. They failed completely. She says she thought...