Florida Lawmakers Approve Changes to ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law

By: Taren Vaughan

Stand Your Ground Law revisions approved by Florida lawmakers? The Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander cases have caused citizens to direct their attention towards the “Stand Your Ground” law the state of Florida and several other states across the country have in place. Although two separate situations, the murder of Trayvon Martin specifically caused the self defense law to be heavily questioned as the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida is the reason why George Zimmerman got away with murder. After months of protests and boycotting Florida, legislators in the state finally decided to hold a hearing to review the “Stand Your Ground” law over the summer. And according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, lawmakers in Florida approved changes to the controversial self defense law this past Tuesday.

The governor of Florida Rick Scott’s task force recommended that the bill would prevent individuals who are the “aggressors” in confrontations from having the ability to claim they are standing their ground. The bill would also provide specifics in terms of the investigations law enforcement officials would be required to perform in shootings regardless of if the law is claimed as a defense law.

Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith feels the term “aggressor” needs to be clearly defined and says after what happened to Trayvon Martin, he knew lawmakers had to deliver a strong message to neighborhood watch members on what kind of behavior is acceptable:

“After what happened in Sanford we want to send a message to neighborhood watch programs … about what is acceptable behavior.”