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Stand Your Ground Laws: The Case Of Rodriguez V. State

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Trayvon Martin was only seventeen years old when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida. Martin was on the phone with his girlfriend prior to the shooting, not partaking in any sort of criminal activity. He was carrying a bag of Skittles in his pocket, not a weapon of any kind. Despite this, Zimmerman claimed he shot Martin in “self-defense”. He was charged with second-degree murder, but found not guilty. This verdict sparked an outrage, igniting a flame for justice under the American people. Nation-wide rallies and protests put Florida’s self-defense laws under fire; in particular its stand your ground laws. Stand your ground laws are cemented around a person being able to use whatever force they …show more content…

State exemplifies that the effects of stand your ground laws are a prominent issue in society. On a Texas night in 2010, retired firefighter Raul Rodriguez shot and killed his neighbor, Kelly Danaher, over loud music coming from a party Danaher was throwing. Rodriguez, in an attempt to defend himself in court, tried to invoke his right to stand his ground, but nevertheless was convicted. The Texas stand your ground laws gave Rodriguez a sense of power he never should have felt he possessed. Since Rodriguez knew he would be able to invoke his right to stand his ground, he did not think nearly as much as he should have about shooting his neighbor because he was led to believe that he could just say it was in “self-defense”. There is even a recording of the incident in which he said, “Now, I’m standing my ground here.” Rodriguez, very deliberately, made reference to the Texas law. This further illustrates how Rodriguez understood, but completely misconstrued the stand your ground law and morphed it to fit his current situation. Harris County Assistant District Attorney, Donna Logan explained how Rodriguez “felt he had the ultimate control, the control to decide who lives and who dies.” This belief of Rodriguez’s ultimately led to him thinking that he had the right to kill an innocent man. If the stand your grounds laws were repealed and replaced with the more sensible duty to retreat, then the law would not be able to be so grossly

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