Stand Your Ground Law Research Paper

Stand Your Ground Laws. A law that allows individuals to use deadly force if they believe that they were in danger. Ideally, this law is everything America stands for. To be able to stand up for themselves when they feel threatened, whether it would be their physical body or their rights. Adding on to that patriotism, the United States also gives power to the people and thus the states. Therefore, two states with the Stand Your Ground Laws can be interpreted differently. Take Texas and New York for example. Two of most well-known and populous states in the United States where they are on opposing sides of the political spectrum. Although both states allow their citizens to use self-defense, there’s a stark difference in the effects of their people. …show more content…
As shown in Prison Policy Initiative, both in Texas and New York have shown steady decreases in the prison incarcerations rates while the jail incarceration rate stayed the same. However, Texas’s rates are double of New York. In 2010, Texas has “2,855 blacks and 768 whites incarcerated per 100,000 people in their racial group” [4]. New York on the other hand has “1,655 blacks and 219 whites per 100,000 people in their racial group” [5]. Even in crime rates there is a massive difference. From Neighborhood Scouts, Texas’s “annual crime rate if 890,966” [6] while New York has an “annual crime rate of 392, 694” [7]. The information does show an effect of the Stand Your Ground Laws but because Texas and New York enacted the law differently, there is contrasting