The Unequal Justice of Stand Your Ground Laws
By Collyn Stephens
The United States of America is a conflicted country. There are over 300 million guns in circulation and counting, around 16 million active conceal carry weapon permits, and legislatures continue to pass statutes that allow more deadly force to be used as an acceptable method of conflict resolution; it is difficult to imagine that the sum of these equaling a less violent society. Instead, a culture of fear and normalization of gun usage, outside of war time and marksmanship, has taken hold of this country and it is the people that will suffer.
Janai Wilson and Cody Devine were sleeping in a vacant duplex when the owner fired eight bullets at them, killing Devine. They were unarmed, and still, the owner claimed self-defense and was found not guilty of all charges. Could Cody Devine’s life have been saved with a phone call to the local police department?
Marissa Alexander was denied the defense of Stand Your Ground law when she fired a warning shot during an argument at her abusive husband days after she had given birth. Instead, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but after a successful appeal a new trial was granted. A plea deal was reached when prosecution stated they would pursue charges of up to 60 years in the new trial. She was free after 3 years of time served and 2 years of house arrest. Do women truly have equal protection under Stand Your Ground laws?
It is not just one story that is unjust and heartbreaking, but several stories of unarmed individuals being killed by people bearing arms claiming Stand Your Ground defense and women being denied the same defense when they use deadly force against their abusive partners. These two cases, one in Nevada and the other in Florida, are only drops of injustices that Stand Your Ground laws have been implicated in. Jordan Davis, Diren Dede, Jacquelin Dixon, Pamela Smith, Markeis Glockton and many others were unarmed and killed by individuals bearing arms claiming “Stand Your Ground” or were not protected under the same defense when they were defending their families. They are not the exceptions, but a pattern of inequality.
Marissa Alexander’s story is a testament that when women use deadly force against their male abusers, they have no equal protection under Stand Your Ground laws. So, who do these laws supposed to protect, if not the most vulnerable populations in societies? Nevada, has the fifth highest rate of domestic violence gun homicide in the country and has been traumatized by the biggest mass shooting in our history. Nevada could change everything.
Nevada voters have set the stage and could lead the charge in eliminating their own Stand Your Ground law. After recent mid-term elections, democrats have secured a majority in the state’s Assembly, Senate, and Governorship. Although Florida passed the first Stand Your Ground law in 2005, it currently does not have the numbers in its legislature to repeal the law. Florida’s legislature has been controlled by one outside interest group for decades, but that could change in 2020. This past November, people with felonies were given back their right to vote after the successful campaign by Floridians for a Fair Democracy called “Second Chances.” This success was achieved by the direct voice of the people through a ballot initiative.
When deadly force was confined to one’s “castle,” or home, against an intruder there was legal consensus that the intruder was doing something illegal or was a deadly threat. Self-Defense cases were easier to navigate and more understandable before 2005. Now, Stand Your Ground laws permit deadly force to be used outside of the home without the duty to retreat and in certain cases, presumption of reasonable fear is given to the defendant. Often during Stand Your Ground cases guns are used and, unfortunately, only one person is armed. Proportionality or an “fair fight” is not weighed as heavily as one would think it should. The killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was not a “fair fight.”
More people bearing arms in public will not deter violence from happening, it will create a culture of false safety and paranoid individuals. If we are a country that values life and liberty, then Stand Your Ground laws are an obstruction to both. We cannot experience liberty and live in fear, they simply cannot live in harmony. The people must have first and final say in the decisions of its government and it is up to us to demand change.