Argumentative Essay: Is The Stand Your Ground Law

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Pages: 6

Is the Stand Your Ground law a just law, or is it a means of murderers being able to escape their crimes with no punishment. A promotion of vigilante justice is not what our society needs. It needs to fix the under bedding covert racism that has plagued us for so long even till this day. This cognitive fear of other races stems from the history of minorities in the United States always being the wrong doers or being less of others based on color/race. Living in Florida is being on the forefront of the issue because Florida was the first state to enact Stand Your Ground law in which if an individual feels threatened for his or her life they have the duty to retaliate with lethal force. This adaptation of the law seeks more deadly solutions then …show more content…
Is there a way to combat racial profiling and questionable use of Stand Your Ground law? Well the Stand Your Ground law is different state to state varying on how aggressive the law can be, but in Florida the most questionable part it that in a court case it is very hard to plead someone guilty who is claiming self-defense. Substantial evidence is needed to prosecute the shooter, while the victim is eternally silent due to the circumstances. In the case of the Trayvon Martin shooting George Zimmerman said he was restrained by Trayvon Martin and couldn’t escape so he resorted to lethal force. The shooter can claim anything from fearing for their life to saying the victim was running at them. The court system needs to become more rigorous for cases like these to stop meaningless killings from going unpunished. Another big component is the misunderstanding of the law, some citizens think that the Stand Your Ground law mean you can public brandish weapons and whenever threatened wield their firearm, instead of attempting to escape if able to. There should be a way to inform the public of the ins and outs of the Stand Your Ground law, whether it is through television programs, public education, or even a day program you’re required to do when you purchase your first