Stand Your Ground Law: Shot By George Zimmerman

Decent Essays
Shot by George Zimmerman in 2012, seventeen year old Trayvon Martin had his life cut short. Zimmerman, who volunteered for his local neighborhood watch committee in Sanford, Florida, was acquitted of the homicide of Martin. He was released because evidence to contradict his claim of self-defense was not present, also, the state of Florida adopted so called, “Stand Your Ground” laws that supports Zimmerman’s case. “Stand Your Ground” laws eliminate the duty to retreat, or an attempt to get away, from a threatening situation and permit the use of self-defense. These laws root from the Castle Doctrine, which stated one did not have the duty to retreat on their own property, “Stand Your Ground” laws expanded this policy to anywhere a person has

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Facts and Procedural History: Once the individual, Graham, realized the commencement of a low insulin is being reacted, he had the inclination to purchase an orange juice to thwart the low insulin reaction. Upon arriving the convenience store where he spotted a line of customers waiting for their turn at the checkout line. Graham rushed out of the store without paying for the content. An officer spotted the swift activity and decided to do an investigative stop and called for backup.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Answering the question as to whether or not I think the case was handled properly provides little challenge when considering the basics: a young man was killed, the person who killed the young man was tried by a jury, and the accused was acquitted of the crime. In essence, the criminal justice system worked when viewing this case from that overarching perspective, but when we consider how we got from the death of Trayvon Martin to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, I am of the opinion the case was not handled properly and this brings me to the challenge of explaining "Why not." Neither Zimmerman following Martin, nor Martin walking through the neighborhood, constituted a crime. Although I am of the opinion that Zimmerman should have ceased following Martin when the dispatcher told him to do so, the fact he continued is not a crime as he was not legally obligated…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stand Your Ground Summary

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Samir Jhajj Mrs. Michielin ENG 1D0-H October 15, 2014. Independent Study Unit Task One: Eric Roberts Walters was born on March 3, 1957 in Toronto, Ontario. Eric studied at York University and when he was finished from university, he started to teach at a public school in Streetsville, Ontario in 1993. His class were not good readers or writers, but the way Mr. Walters made them better was by writing his first book called Stand Your Ground. After writing this book, Mr. Walters’ class enjoyed reading this book and so did the community.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George Zimmerman Trial had an effect on American society and social norms because race, culture, and behavior toward social media. Everything started when Trayvon (17 year old boy) was walking around and George Zimmerman was watching him walking around the neighborhood. During that moment it was a George nightmare because he had killed Trayvon Martin for trying to protect himself from him. Now the family and other people are protesting, saying “ Justice For Trayvon”, but later on George Zimmerman was not guilty of the murder of Trayvon Martin. What can I tell you about George Zimmerman?…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin shooting caused a lot of hate toward both men, but mainly Zimmerman. Zimmerman was called a racist, due to Martin being black. This shooting sparked up quite a lot of controversy that is still going on to this day. Zimmerman was later found not guilty which angered the citizens who sided with Martin who thought that Zimmerman was guilty. On the night of February 26th, 2012, the Sanford PD received a call from a man (Zimmerman) reporting a suspicious person (Martin).…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stand your ground is now in twenty states allowing people to use their gun in public. The law offers legal cover to people who feel justified in using deadly force in self-defense (DeBRABANDER). Anyone who owns a gun can now take it with them to public, and they can use it if they feel threatened. A very popular case which used this law was the Zimmerman case. Zimmerman shot and killed a black teenager named Trayvon Martin.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    You can use deadly force to protect yourself as long as the intruder has a weapon or is threatening you, to where you feel like that person is going to harm you or your family. A person should not be punished for protected their home or personal belongings, especially if you feel threatened. There is no point in getting shot for living in your own home when an intruder comes in threatening you with your life, you should be able to protect yourself with whatever it takes to keep you and your family safe. Why should you get in trouble for pulling the trigger first? It is written up in the castle doctrine that you basically have to let the person that is trying to harm you make the first move, when sometimes that person might have a gun or a deadly weapon and the first move is not always something that you can come back from.…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    “Stand Your Ground Law” Many African Americans are killed every day because the Stand Your Ground law allows any person to hurt a citizen they think is “suspicious” to them or their community. The person they see may not be doing any suspicious activity, but in their eyes, they are a criminal out to do more crimes. Trayvon Martin was thought to be a criminal because he had a hood on and was outside late at night. George Zimmerman used racial profiling to say that a young African American boy who was walking home was a criminal, and he killed him despite what the police told him to do.…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the “Stand Your Ground” Law was passed, so many deaths have happened causing people to fear that they may be next. Furthermore, the stand your ground law allows people to use unnecessary deadly force. “It provides that any person may use deadly force when he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself of another” (Winkler). As Winkler explains, the “Stand Your Ground” Law makes people believe that if there is any reason they feel like they are threatened, use they should use deadly force.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Black Lives Matter” Movement & Police Brutality As much as the subjects of “Black Lives Matter” and police brutality are getting stale and cliché, unfortunately it is still an issue that will not be corrected by hushed complaints and sweeping under the rug. However, this problem is not brand new; it has only escalated. Racial discrimination began in the times of slavery and has been an issue since—well forever. The discrimination has been toughest on minorities—like the African-American community. Along with the racial discrimination from society itself, some police and law enforcement figures have often abused their power and taken advantage of their place in the majority race.…

    • 1106 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Every year approximately 3.7 million homes are broken into, and of that 3.7 million about 28% of those homes were broken into while a person was home. 8% of the people who were at home were attacked and received some type of bodily harm (Auerbach). This percentage has been lowered since Stand Your Ground Laws were passed, but there was an increase homicides since these laws have been passed. Even though there has been an increase in homicides; Stand Your Ground Laws have allowed many innocent citizens to stand up for themselves without prosecution and this is why Stand Your Ground Laws should be legalized in all 50 states. Stand Your Ground Laws have been around for over hundreds of years; even before America declared its independence from Great Britain.…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Stand Your Ground Summary

    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages

    As Kelly Brown Douglas notes in her book Stand Your Ground, one of reasons for perpetuating slavery after the other Western European countries abolished it was due to America’s belief in Manifest Destiny. White Anglo-Saxons assumed they were called by God to rule the “New World”, but also to rule the Africans they had enslaved. In essence, God chose white people over all other races to be the ruling elites who dominate the world. They are the chosen people, in similar ways to Israel, who were God’s chosen people, determined to rule and colonize the “Promised Land”. Not only would Americans colonize, they would also proselytize and set an example of what pious morality ought to look like.…

    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Self Defense Thesis

    • 1698 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Self-defense is a prevention tool that can be implemented in many aspects of life, especially for females. Bolsters self-esteem and confidence among young women Prepares women for future situations that could be detrimental to their health (ie. abusive relationships, robbery/theft, sexual assault, common attack, etc.)…

    • 1698 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Like the twenty year old college station man prevented his death by defending himself from ransom (Walker). Also like the twenty two year old Bella Chase resident faces manslaughter and attempted second degree murder that her not trying to kill anyone but also self defense could have prevented (“Bourbon…”). Big Red Benvenuti was the one who was shot in the buttocks, declared that Le was a hero for defending them against addled aggression (“Bourbon…”). Le had Shot the aggressor, according to Le and missed, but the bullet had somehow landed on a woman named Brittany Thomas who had later died in the hospital (“Bourbon…”). “The shooting highlighted Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground Law, which allows people to use deadly force with no obligation to retreat if they have a reasonable fear that their life is being threatened” (Kaplan).…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays