The fault with “stand your ground” laws

The “stand your ground” laws also unfairly target minorities and adolescents. Preconceived biases — especially of Black and Hispanic people — cause disproportionate reactions to the perception of being threatened. A study in Florida showed that Black adolescents aged 15-19 were twice as likely to be shot out of defense as their white counterparts. 

This injustice is saddening but not surprising. Studies show that Black teenage boys are often viewed as less innocent and “older” when compared to white boys in similar situations. These prejudices make Black boys more susceptible to greater violence in response to minor issues than white boys. This gap was evident in the Trayvon Martin case, where Martin’s identity was seen as so threatening that it warranted death. This disparity is not just a problem of violence toward African Americans but an issue of how the justice system treats murderers of innocent Black people. Given the preconceived bias that certain minorities are more dangerous than others, a law based on the sense of danger that the victim feels they are in would also follow these same prejudiced biases.

“A Black child could have lost his life over nothing; [Yarl] posed no threat. He made no threats: he knocked on the door,” Black Student Union vice president and junior Anijah Wilson said.

“But at the same time, I don’t expect him to be protected by [the] laws of a nation that doesn’t consider us human. How could you expect people’s outlook deciding on guilty or innocent toward Black people, who have been historically painted as evil?”

When considering historical context and the prejudiced fear of Black individuals — especially Black men — it is even less surprising that courts in “stand your ground” states are five times more likely to find a white person’s killing of a Black person to be justified than when a Black person kills a white person. By innately creating unfair standards in the courtroom due to implicit prejudice and bias, “stand your ground” laws favor one group over another, which furthers systemic racism in the justice system and the unfair disadvantage Black defendants have in the courts. 

“[‘Stand your ground’ laws don’t] necessarily state what has to be done towards you in order for you to ‘stand your ground.’ Of course, it has to be something violent, or you have to feel threatened to ‘stand your ground,’ but what does strike me [is] what has historically been considered a threat,” Wilson said.

Besides the clear racial disadvantage that “stand your ground” laws give Black defendants in courts, it also encourages citizens to shoot first and ask questions later. This leads to increased homicides — both justified and unjustified — as many citizens believe it is their right and in their best interest to kill anyone that threatens them without considering possible alternatives.

In the first decade after Florida enacted their “stand your ground” law, homicides increased by 22% and  “justifiable” homicides increased by 75%, despite the fact that 57% of these homicides showed clear evidence of the fact that the person who claimed “self-defense” could’ve safely retreated to escape the potential threat.

But across the nation, states with “stand your ground” laws witnessed a 53% average increase in the justifiable homicide rate after the law’s passage. But states without “stand your ground” laws experienced an average decline of 5% in justifiable homicides during the same period. This data all reflect one horrifying fact: “stand your ground” laws simply lead to unnecessary murder that the criminal seems to be getting away with.

Clearly, “stand your ground” laws are not acceptable defenses when they not only excuse unnecessary murder but also aid the systemic racism in judicial courts. Any law allowing prejudice and violence can not be accepted in the American justice system.