Florida Senate Approves Changes to “Stand Your Ground” Laws

A 24-12 vote in the Florida Senate recently approved changes to the state’s “stand your ground” law.

The changes were endorsed by the National Rifle Association; opponents argue they will “stack the deck against justice for the dead,” especially if the victim is a racial minority.

The legislation shifts the burden of proof in a pre-trial hearing from defendants to prosecutors, requiring state attorneys to prove “by clear and convincing evidence” why a defendant could not claim “stand your ground” in self-defense cases.

Its prospects at becoming law are unknown, because a House version – which required the demonstration of a higher burden of proof from prosecutors – unexpectedly stalled in November in committee.

The law, adopted in 2005, allows residents to use deadly force in defense of their lives or property in certain circumstances, with no obligation to retreat or flee.

Prior to the floor vote, several Democratic senators invoked the names of high-profile victims, including Trayvon Martin, in expressing their opposition to “stand your ground” and Bradley’s proposed changes, but Republicans said Martin’s case had nothing to do with the law.

The 17-year-old from Miami Gardens was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Sanford four years ago. Zimmerman was later acquitted using stand-your-ground as a defense – though he was not at home, not on his own property, and there was no evidence that his life or property were in jeopardy.

Shifting the burden of proof in self-defense cases would require prosecutors to “somehow prove a negative; that there was no threat, no reason to be fearful,” said Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando. “In these cases, you only have one person’s side of the story; it’s the last man standing,” Thompson said. “Trayvon couldn’t tell his side of the story because he was dead. So we only have the version that was presented by the individual who hunted him down, who tracked him, who engaged him in an altercation.”

Senate Democratic Leader Arthenia Joyner, of Tampa, said the enforcement of “stand your ground” has already proven to have wide disparities depending on the race of the victim, and this legislation could further hurt the chances for minority victims to get justice. She cited statistics from the American Bar Association that she said show a white shooter of a black victim is 350 percent more likely to be found justified in use of deadly force than if the victim was white.