zimmermen and "stand your ground" laws

[jaxc]

okay, to be honest i was very,very hesitant to post this thread thinking it would lead to a mother-effen fire storm of debates, but i'm hoping that every-body can be respectful of eachothers opinion's and act civilized( and i know this young boy being killed is a tragedy, but try to control your emotions) so getting back to the point what do you think about florida's "stand your ground" laws( again, be respectful and objective).

[pellaz]

here is a NYTimes article which out lines the situation. I kinda agree with the legal argument the article brings across.
In addition I dont want police approved bullies roaming the streets, unless they are cute and likely will not be the case.

Ok so now one guy is dead, everyone is in court ... fail.
I personally would not have the band width or the money to deal this if it happened to me. Only the lawyers win. Governments should not allow this to happen.

[jaxc]

i dont see a problem the law or legislature, this a failure of law-enforcement( and anybody with common sense knows "stand your ground" doesn't mean stalk and murder someone because you "think" there a criminal). Again nothing wrong with the law itself, just people letting guys like this anywere near a weapon.

[East]

This guy was a racist...very very clear about that. If "standing your ground" means hunting down and killing someone because you are a racist and you "think" someone may have done something then the law is flawed.

IF this guy is not charged and prosecuted for murder...the "stand your ground" laws will be a joke. They had better close this Pandoras Box quickly.

Didn't the guys who killed Matthew Shepherd say they felt "threatened"?

I would like to see if a black guy in a predominately black neighborhood hunted down and killed a white guy for passing through" and tried to use this "stand your ground" law....in Florida....why do I get the feeling that he would be arrested in a second?

[Bowyn Aerrow]

A black boy in a hoodie is walking down the street slowly, talking on a cellphone and decides to run because someone is following him.

This is an obvious case of criminal, life threatening intent.

There is no way that anyone can confuse this issue seriously. Its a clear case of bigotry gone terribly wrong.

While I can understand that the state has to pursue the matter without assuming this was a racial crime, for the legal end of things and to make charges stick, the truth is we all know what this shooter was doing. Its clear as day.

Yes its the 21st century, sadly as a species we haven't actually dealt with our problems. Sure we have made being a bigot illegal on paper, we haven't actually done anything to cure bigotry.

[dfiant]

What a gorgeous looking young man. Don't be black, wear a hoodie and go to the corner store to buy sweets, there are no laws to protect you.

[pellaz]

... anybody with common sense knows "stand your ground" doesn't mean stalk and murder someone because you "think" there a criminal). Again nothing wrong with the law itself, just people letting guys like this anywhere near a weapon.

two things wrong here:

"anybody with common sense knows"
this is assumes a person carrying a gun has this common sense thingy, like they are in tune with the planet

"letting guys like this anywhere near a weapon"
how do we test for "guys like this" and or who is going to administer the test

the cops should be slapped with a huge mighty law suite, they have sanctioned thugs roaming the streets!

[Pix]

My understanding is that "stand your ground" doesn't cover this guy and a grand jury would nail him. I was also told by someone who once lived there (I think 5 years ago) that the police were racist and didn't like blacks and thus probably just winked at this guy instead of enforcing the law. I believe the FBI is involved now and I hope they crucify him.

I support the law, but Zimmerman would not want me on his jury.

And if Zimmerman gets off, and this inspires similar killings, I'll have to change my mind on supporting this law in Florida (and maybe elsewhere) until the state becomes more civilized. I support the law so that decent law abiding citizens don't have to live in fear of thugs who prey on them, not so the obnoxious but law abiding can twist laws to predate on decent law abiding citizens. In my view, Zimmerman MUST be made an example of or the entire supposed intent of the law is in jeopardy, and "stand your ground" will need to be amended or repealed.

[dlboy53]

i dont see a problem the law or legislature, this a failure of law-enforcement( and anybody with common sense knows "stand your ground" doesn't mean stalk and murder someone because you "think" there a criminal). Again nothing wrong with the law itself, just people letting guys like this anywere near a weapon.

Yes there is a problem with the law because he followed the person and there was a fight and he was losing so he shot the teen.

And if I did not read crorrectly did they not say the the authorities told Zimmerman to stay away? So his under-minded the authorities as well as taking the law in to his own hands.

[zeon]

if u need a gun your a coward... I say shop people who carry guns the world doesnt need them