“That baby is ugly.” That’s how Professor Patricia Broussard, an associate professor at Florida A& M College of Law, described Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law to some 200 people who attended a panel discussion – The Verdict: A Legal Conversation – on Wednesday night at FAMU’s College of Law.
“This is not a good law when we have to hold a panel discussion about it,” Broussard added. “When a law is vague you strike it. The law does not meet constitutional muster.”
Other panelists – Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, Senator Geraldine Thompson and attorneys Natalie Jackson and Camara Williams – who took part in the discussion believe, at a minimum the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law is confusing and should be amended.
The Legal Conversation occurred less than two weeks after George Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch captain was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen and amidst nationwide protests and marches over what many perceive as a miscarriage of justice.
Although Zimmerman’s attorneys argued he shot the teen in self-defense, Jackson pointed out that the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law was part of the jury’s instructions, but ought not to have applied.
“In this case, the Sanford Police Department was so confused with the [Stand Your Ground] law, they couldn’t arrest George Zimmerman,” she said.
While throughout the Zimmerman trial it was said that race wasn’t an issue, “race was an issue…everyone was just a little too comfortable,” Jackson added.
Republican Senator David Simmons, one of the key authors of the law and a panel member, pushed back hard saying, ‘Stand Your Ground’ is a limited defense that is available. He said, prior to 2005 when the law was passed, if someone was being attacked they had a duty to flee, but with ‘Stand Your Ground’ that is not now the case.
“Stand Your Ground is very fair. It is pro-victim and it is the right thing to do,” Simmons said. Nonetheless, he did concede that certain amendments to the law might be needed. He suggested there was need for dialogue on issues such as, law enforcement having a duty to fully investigate and arrest if there is probable cause a crime has been committed, 12-member juries and mandatory sentencing, among others.
He claimed though that, the Zimmerman jury instructions would have been the same prior to the passage of the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law.
Smith disagreed with Simmons that the jury instructions in the Zimmerman case would have been the same with or without the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law.
“Prior to ‘Stand Your Ground,’ if you killed someone you had the burden of showing that that was the last resort,” he said. “With ‘Stand Your Ground’ the burden has been shifted and now the prosecutor has to show that was the last resort.”
Smith said that Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, which expands the Castle Doctrine, has taken gun violence into the parking lot.
“I would like to see some changes… there is no perfect law and we should go back and see the challenges and fix it,” he said. Smith added that the “immunity from arrest and detention” should be removed from the law and the ‘aggressor’ aspect must be made clear, among other fixes.
Thompson pointed out that since the passage of the law there has been an increase in the number of justifiable homicides as people believe they are now entitled to use lethal or deadly force.
“One of my biggest concerns is the application of the law and its disparate impact,” she said. “It’s not based on the merits of the case and who you kill.”
Thompson noted that most of her Republican colleagues in the legislature are unwilling to have a discussion on the law. “We need to have that debate…we have a law on the books that no one understands.”
She added that while it is the legislators who will have the responsibility for fixing or repealing the law, she urged people to contact legislators and voice their opposition.
Thompson had high praise for the Dream Defenders staked out at the Capitol in Tallahassee and who have called on Gov. Rick Scott to convene a Special Session to review the ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law.
“We want to encourage engagement,” she said. “You want to vote for representatives who understand your concerns. Either Florida will act or the rest of the nation will act.”
