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Nearly three months after 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was gunned down while jogging in Georgia, the men alleged to have ended his life now face murder charges. As the case sparks outrage and protests, a cadre of gun violence prevention activists are gearing up to take on what they call an overlooked culprit: the stand your ground laws that critics have decried as a low-cost license to kill.

The original prosecutor on Arberys case, George Barnhill, pointed to Georgias stand your ground law as one of the reasons he refused to pursue charges against Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 32. Seeing Arbery, a frequent runner, jogging through their neighborhood and suspecting him of recent robberies, the father and son reportedly followed the younger black man, confronted him, and fatally shot him after a brief struggle. Another man, Bryan William, recorded the incident on video. Under stand your ground, a person facing a perceived threat has no duty to retreat, and may claim legal protections if they employ deadly force.

This is not something that was written in the Constitution. The founding fathers didnt include stand your ground, said Amber Goodwin, founding director of the Community Justice Action Fund (CJAF). Someone sat in a room and made these laws up. We need to get in a room and out in the streets and demand that the law be changed.

On May 12, CJAF worked with Amnesty International and Cities United to organize a virtual meeting during which the groups detailed their strategy for making that happen. Through an email push, the group is asking people in the 25 states with stand your ground laws to write to their local lawmakers, urging them to support repeals. By June, the group will identify the places where they have the best chance for success. Nevada is the only state with a stand your ground law, a Democratic governor, and at least one Democratic-led legislative chamber.

Goodwin founded CJAF in 2016 to create a gun violence prevention organization led by people of color and focused on the everyday shootings that disproportionately kill and injure young black men. So far, much of the groups work has concentrated on securing financial support for community gun violence intervention programs. Arberys death prompted the group to pivot to a sweeping fight for legislative reform.

In a time where being safe in your neighborhood is such an emphasis, said Greg Jackson, national advocacy director at CJAF, [Arberys death] amplifies the danger of just jogging a few steps from your own home.

Jackson argues that stand your ground led to Arberys fatal encounter with his accused killers. Gregory McMichael, who watched as his son allegedly shot Arbery, was a former police officer. You had someone who seemed very versed in the law that was part of law enforcement, Jackson said. Its hard for me to believe they didnt know how these laws work and how this would play out. The local authorities did not make an arrest in Arberys death until May 7, two days after footage of the incident was made public.

Stand your ground provides the McMichaels with an option for contesting the charges against them.

It appears Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and Bryan William were following, in hot pursuit, a burglary suspect, with solid first hand probable cause, in their neighborhood, and asking/telling him to stop, Barnhill wrote in a letter explaining his decision to not bring charges. Citing the states stand your ground law, he wrote that Travis McMichael had no duty to retreat once he engaged Arbery.

Stand your ground laws are relatively new, with Florida enacting the nations first in 2005. The statutes apply a novel interpretation of the centuries-old Castle Doctrine which holds that a person may use lethal force to protect their castle, or home to public spaces. The spread of the laws has had deadly consequences. According to research summarized by the RAND Corporation, Florida saw a 32 percent increase in firearm homicides after stand your ground laws were enacted there.

Its a slippery slope, because these laws broaden the scope of Castle Doctrine and extend it to any confrontation anywhere, said Tishara Jones, treasurer of the city of St. Louis and a supporter of CJAF. Her home state of Missouri adopted its own stand your ground law in 2016.

In [Arberys] case, they hunted this man down and shot him in broad daylight, Jones said.

Arberys death has echoes of the killing of Trayvon Martin, which first brought stand your ground laws to wider attention. Martin, 17, was pursued by George Zimmerman, an armed man who suspected him of being a criminal. A jury decided that Zimmerman was justified in shooting Martin during the ensuing confrontation, an acquittal that helped birth the Black Lives Matter movement.

State lawmakers are scrambling to respond to COVID-19 and overhaul their budgets in the face of crashing tax revenues, which could hamper any immediate legislative push. Of the states with stand your ground laws, only Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina have full time legislatures that meet throughout the year.

The push to repeal stand your ground laws will also have to contend with the support they continue to enjoy among many Republican lawmakers. A proposal in Ohio would create the countrys newest stand your ground law, but its been stuck in committee. After the laws momentum stalled in the years following the Trayvon Martin case, they were passed in Missouri, Utah, Idaho, and Iowa, where a young black legislator donned a hoodie on the floor of the State Capitol in an unsuccessful plea to block the bill.

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Ahmaud Arbery Shooting Ignites Fight to Repeal Stand Your Ground Laws - The Trace

Port Saint John, FL The Free Thought Project has reported on multiple instances in which police officers invade a home and are shot in the process. Thousands of these no-knock raids take place across the country every single year, most of which are over alleged possession of substances deemed illegal by the state. But what happens when people defend their homes against these home invasions? Well, as the following case illustrates, sometimes justice can be served.

In 2015, John DeRossett, 60, was arrested for trying to kill three Brevard County sheriffs deputies. However, after a long legal battle, this former security guard has been freed under Floridas stand your ground law.

DeRossetts case is a rare one as he was not acquitted. The ruling this week means there should have never been an arrest in the first place.

The appellate decision is better than a jury acquittal. An acquittal only means not guilty. This order means that John is innocent, that his actions were justified, and that he never should have been arrested in the first place. Its a total vindication, said DeRossetts Orlando-based attorney, Michael Panella.

, . . . Great, great. Thank God. Thank Jesus. Thank everybody, thank you. You just dont know, how it feels, you know? Im trying to hold the tears back, DeRossett said in a statement issued to FLORIDA TODAY.

Naturally, the idea of letting a man free for shooting a cop didnt resonate well in the law enforcement community. The state attorneys office issued a statement disagreeing with the decision to free DeRossett.

Our law enforcement officers risk their lives daily to protect our community. This ruling adds to that risk by extending protection to those who turn a blind eye to criminal activity, even within their own home.

The criminal activity referred in the above statement was the fact that DeRossetts niece, Mary Ellis DeRossett, 47, entered into consensual exchanges with willing participants who traded money for sex. In short, Mary Ellis was a prostitute.

As TFTP has previously reported, in the Land of the Free, it is against the law to get paid to have sex, unless that sex is filmed, distributed on DVD or the internet, and taxed. One of the least talked about systems of oppression in the US is that of persecuting prostitutes.

When referencing prostitution, we are talking about the mutually beneficial exchange of sexual favors for money by two or more consenting partners; not forced human trafficking.

Just like the war on drugs creates crime by pushing the unending demand for illicit substances into the black market, the war on the sex trade creates crime in the same manner. As DeRossetts case illustrates, it also makes police/prostitute interactions, incredibly dangerous as cops are told they must kidnap and cage people for engaging in this entirely consensual activity.

Mary Ellis DeRossett was not being trafficked. She was doing with her own body as she saw fit. Ironically enough, while cops will kidnap and cage women for doing what they want with their own body in regard to selling sex, had DeRossett wanted to have an abortion, cops would have been completely fine with her and the other 70,000 women who end their pregnancies each year in Florida. Instead of her body, her choice, however, DeRossett had sex and so cops had to do their jobs.

On that unfortunate August night, cops descended on the DeRossett residence to kidnap and cage Mary Ellis for engaging in commerce unapproved by the state. As her kidnappers the police were attempting to get her into custody, Mary Ellis yelled for help, and her uncle, John DeRossett responded while armed.

As the Star Banner reports:

DeRossetts attorneys argued that he did not know who the men were confronting his niece that night and that he was responding to her screams for help at the front door.

Gunfire ensued and Deputy Casey Smith was shot in the lower abdomen. He recovered from his injuries. Both Ellis a convicted prostitute known as The Cougar and DeRossett, then a security guard at Port Canveral suffered minor gunshot injuries, reports show.

Because the people trying to kidnap his niece wore badges, instead being hailed as a hero for stopping his nieces kidnappers, DeRossett himself was kidnapped and spent the next five years in a cage until now. Luckily for John, he will no longer suffer for defending himself and his family.

Mary Ellis, however, was not exonerated. Instead, she was sentenced to 6 months in a cage for doing what she wanted with her own body and harming absolutely no one.

Read more:
Man Freed Under 'Stand Your Ground' Law After Shooting ...

The State Attorneys Office has determined that Floridas Stand Your Ground law protects Joseph Demari.

A man who shot and killed two people at an Ocala nightclub in March will not face criminal charges now that prosecutors have determined the states Stand Your Ground law covers his actions.

In a four-page memorandum, Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio wrote: "The state is unable to disprove beyond all reasonable doubt that (Joseph) Demari was legally allowed to use deadly force based on a reasonable fear that his life was in danger, or that an imminent forcible felony was about to take place."

According to the document, before the Stand Your Ground statute, people in a public place had a "duty to retreat rather than use deadly force." But Camuccio said changes in the law "removed a persons duty to retreat if the person is in a place where he or she has a right to be."

According to the prosecutor, the statute says "a person who is attacked has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force. Demari was in a place where he had a legal right to be," and therefore "entitled to the no-retreat provision found in the Stand Your Ground Law."

On Feb. 29, Ocala Police Department officers were called to the Jade Lounge at 223 NE Jacksonville Road to investigate a shooting.

According to Camuccios memo, Demari was at the lounge when he was approached by three people: Michael "Thriller" Jackson, James Wallace and Jeffrey Giroti.

Surveillance video showed the trio entered the bar with three other people and surrounded Demari, who was sitting on a stool.

There was a brief discussion between Demari and Jackson and Jackson hit Demari in the face. Wallace and Giroti joined the attack, according to the memo. While Jackson and Demari fell on the ground, Demari was still being hit by his assailants.

On the ground, Demari pulled a pistol from his waistband and fired shots, hitting Jackson, Wallace and Giroti. Demari then got up and fled.

Jackson and Wallace died from the gunshots, the report states.

According to the memo, the altercation stemmed from an affair Demari had with Jacksons wife. Since the affair, Jacksons wife said, Demari had been "stalking her" and continued to contact her.

The surveillance video showed Demari arriving at the lounge first. Seeing Jackson, Wallace and the others, he posted a message on Facebook. The message talks about him (Demari) getting "evil looks," and Jackson telling him to "quit coming around here cause its not going to end well for me."

The video showed the exchange between Jackson and Demari was roughly 20 minutes before the altercation.

Interviewed by police, Demari told them that while on the ground, "he was in fear for his life" and he believed at least one of his attackers was carrying a firearm.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.

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No prosecution in Ocala bar shooting that left two dead - Ocala

Stand your ground laws provide for a defense in criminal cases where people have legal allowances to use force, including deadly actions, as a way to defend ones safety. This defense is possible when people encounter an immediate threat against their life. Some laws allow for this interaction to legally occur when there are perceived threats present as well.

Instead of having a duty to retreat as with other self-defense laws that include interactions in public, a person using a stand your ground law is not required to retreat from the situation. Even if there is a reasonable opportunity for them to do so, the person who feels a real or perceived threat can defend their right to be in a place where they are lawfully present.

It is a different law than the castle doctrine that allows you to defend your personal space at home, in your vehicle, or sometimes at work. Deadly force is only authorized when someone invades your living area. Stand your ground laws permit the application in public. If you are trespassing on someones property or are in the act of committing another crime, then you cannot claim this defense.

There are several pros and cons of stand your ground laws that are worth considering when looking at how it applies to specific situations.

1. It allows anyone to protect themselves from the commission of a crime.Although the death of Trayvon Martin has created an ongoing national debate about the morality and use of stand your ground laws, this legislation does allow anyone to prevent themselves from being harmed during the commission of a crime. As the Chicago Tribune noted in October 2013, poor African-Americans who live in high-crime urban areas stand to benefit the most from these laws because it makes it easier to protect oneself when law enforcement cannot arrive fast enough.

Blacks make up 16.6% of Floridas population, notes John Lott, but account for 31% of the defendants invoking the stand your ground defense. Black defendants who invoke the statute are actually acquitted eight percentage points more often than whites.

2. It eliminates the problems that come with a duty to retreat.It is easy to forget the reasons why the first stand your ground laws were enacted in the first place. Although Florida is often credited with the initial legislation, states like Illinois had some form of this defense on their books since 1961. Even President Obama, who once said that the laws promoted violence, voted to expand the legislation when he was serving as a state senator in Illinois. The laws remove the requirement to retreat because the act of doing so can prevent someone from defending themselves.

It also eliminates the term appropriate retreat from the legal lexicon in many states. Prosecutors sometimes went after victims who defended themselves by saying that they didnt retreat far enough to meet the legal statute for their actions. Thats because the legal standard at times was that you had to turn your back on your assailant.

3. It removes ambiguity from the castle doctrine standards.If there is an intruder in your home, then a stand your ground law allows you to protect your life and that of your family. There is no obligation to find a place to retreat while that person ransacks your place or tries to hunt you down. Anyone engaging in criminal activity does not have a defense to stand on with this legislation when they attempt to harm you, but your self-defense actions allow for the legal justification for homicide.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote that detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifited knife. Now imagine that the person in question has a gun. You have a split-second decision to make. Stand your ground laws empower people to take action.

4. It can provide immunity from criminal prosecution.The stand your ground law in Florida provides immunity from civil actions and criminal prosecution when the defense is valid. Some statutes dont offer this benefit. Florida also shifts the burden to the state to prove that the shooter didnt act in self-defense and therefore not be entitled to those immunities. Its a heavy standard to meet, but there are still instances when police and prosecutors can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a persons actions are an attempt to thwart the law.

This protection also applies to police officers as they attempt to perform their duties. If a law enforcement official feels threatened by the conduct of a suspect they encounter, then their actions of force still receive immunity if it follows the letter of the law.

5. It requires a reasonable belief that harm will occur if actions are not taken.A person is justified with a stand your ground law to use or threaten to use deadly force if there is a reasonable belief that doing so is necessary to prevent great bodily harm or death to themselves or another person. When this incident occurs, then there is no duty to retreat, especially if the use of deadly force does not occur while engaged in criminal activity. A person must be in a place where they have a right to be in order for this statute to apply.

That is why people still get convicted of murder despite their use of this law as a defense. If the average person in the same situation would feel threatened, then the statute would apply. Thats why listening to rap music isnt the same level of threat as someone who displays a weapon.

6. It can lead to a drop in crime that occurs.Dennis Baxley told MSNBC during a 2012 interview about Floridas stand your ground laws that the state had seen a dramatic drop in the violent crime since the legislations implementation. Thats because the design of the law is to protect the people who are attacked without giving immunity or legal benefits to those who are aggressors. Theres nothing in this statute to protect people who are pursuing and confronting other people, Baxley said.

Even though there was a rise in justifiable homicides after the passage of the law in Florida, empowering people to stop bad things from happening can save hundreds of lives each year. Between 2005 to 2010, the overall rate of violent crime in the state plunged by 23%.

7. It follows more than 100 years of legal tradition in the United States.One of the first instances of self-defense and stand your ground theology came from the Beard v U.S. case in 1895. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an innocent person under attack is not obliged to retreat. These individuals had a right to stand their ground, meet any attack upon them with a deadly weapon, and do so in such a way and with such force that they honestly believed it would save their life or protect against bodily injury.

8. It does not apply when retreat is not an option.Stand your ground laws apply only when there is no other option to retreat or the castle doctrine is in play. If you do not have the option to get away from a potential threat, then the standard self-defense laws typically apply in that situation. The stand your ground laws apply when you are in a public place, not committing a crime, and you are not the attacker in that situation. Thats why many people see these laws as a common sense way to eliminate the threat that victims face, either criminally or civilly, when protecting themselves of their family from harm.

1. It can lead to an increase in homicides.The Journal of the American Medical Association, in a study led by the University of Oxford, found that the removal of a duty to retreat when confronted with a perceived deadly threat created a 24.4% increase in homicides. There is also a 31.6% increase in the number of firearm-related homicides. Antonio Gasparrini, a co-author of the study and an association professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says the reason seems to be a change in the perception of an incident.

Our hypothesis was that these laws prevent people from taking alternative actions instead of using firearms in critical situations, Gasparrini said.

2. These laws give individuals unfettered power and discretion.When a stand your ground law is present in society, then it may help to foster the shoot first mentality that some people have when encountering an uncomfortable situation. The legislation makes it easier for individuals to pursue, shoot, or kill others without facing legal consequences. It removes any deterrent that might be available for firearm-related homicides because it offers a path to escape without penalty.

Michael Adams allegedly stabbed 17-year-old Elijah al-Amin in the neck because the hip-hop music made him feel threatened. Adams was charged with first-degree murder for the crime. Jordan Davis, an African-American teen killed in Florida, encountered a similar problem over the volume of his music. Daviss killer was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

3. it can raise the rate of violent crime in the community.The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate in October 2013 about the status of stand your ground laws. The authors noted that there are several national studies which show that the number of homicides increased in the states that implemented some form of this legislation.

It is a perspective that the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law shares, stating that there is a disproportionate number of adverse effects that occur to people of color in society. This concern was magnified in 2018 when Michael Drejka fatally shot a man who shoved and knocked him to the ground over a parking spot. The Pinellas County sheriff declined to arrest him because of the stand your ground law.

4. There could be a racial bias to stand your ground laws.The Tampa Bay Tribune collected 112 cases where people who were charged with murder decided to rely on the stand your ground laws as their defense. The first cases in their collection came from 2006 and went to July 2013. Reporters found that 72% of the defendants who killed an African-American person faced no penalty for their actions. When a white individual was the victim of homicide under the same circumstances, then 59% faced no penalty.

Whether its trick-or-treaters or kids playing in the yard of someone who doesnt want them there, or some drunk guy stumbling into the wrong house, youre encouraging people to possibly use deadly physical force where it shouldnt be used, said former Miami Police Chief John Timoney.

5. It does not always cover situations where your life is not threatened.Some stand your ground laws require that a persons life be actually threatened before the doctrine of self-defense can apply. There are some places where a woman could be sexually assaulted, but then face charges for shooting the perpetrator because there wasnt clear evidence that the individual was trying to take her life. This situation could even result in civil penalties for some people. Thats why states like Florida prefer to err on the side of caution it gives the benefit of the doubt to the victim. Not every law that extends the castle doctrine to your personal public space provides that coverage.

Jon Stoltz, a veteran of the Iraq war, made this observation: These laws give anyone with a gun more permissive rules of engagement in Americas communities than our troops have on the battlefield.

6. There is no deterrent on serious crimes with stand your ground laws.The American Bar Association completed a 12-month study on the effectiveness of stand your ground laws in 2014. They used a decades worth of data to look at the impact of the law from a criminal standpoint. The ABA found that the presence of this doctrine in place of a duty to retreat did not have a deterrent on serious crimes. There were even incidents where law enforcement actions were impeded because of the presence of this legislation.

Even of the information on racial bias is itself biased by those collected the data, the results of criminal activities are shared across various studies by groups from both sides of the political aisle. If it does not have a positive effect, then is it useful to keep the law on the books?

7. It may inspire others to take violent actions.The mother of Jordan Davis told ThinkProgress in 2015 that she believed the presence of stand your ground laws in Florida empowered an older white man to shoot her son because of his loud music. There is no denying that the presence of the law played a significant role in the acquittal of George Zimmerman after killing Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed at the time.

Even high-ranking officials like Ben Carson suggest that the presence of the laws is intended to allow people to take violent actions. The people have a right to any type of weapon that they can legally obtain in order to protect themselves, Carson wrote in his book A More Perfect Union. They would be at a great disadvantage if they were attacked by an overly aggressive government and all they had to defend themselves with were minor firearms.

8. Violent crime declines were occurring before the implementation of stand your ground laws.When Politifact took a look at Floridas violent crime numbers dating back to 2000, they found that the trend of decline was occurring before 2005 when the first version of the statute went on the states books. Between 2000 to 2005, the rate of violent crime dropped 12% in the state. What was most notable about their research was that in 2006 and 2006, the rates actually went up when compared to the 2005 numbers. The trends for crime in Florida also match what the United States experienced as a nation during that time even in states where stand your ground laws were not enacted. Even Baxley admitted that he didnt think that the legislation was the main reason for this outcome, but said it could be one of several reasons responsible for it.

9. It causes people to act on their implicit biases.The implicit biases in the United States link African-Americans with negative concepts in the minds of the majority. Its the reason why the color of a persons skin is directly associated with danger or crime for some people. When people are in uncertain situations with little time to react, then they act upon this approach instead of trying to think logically about the situation. It is the rule of heuristics, when people use unconscious, rapid decisions to create frequently accurate outcomes.

The conscious mind can override this approach, but it rarely does when danger is involved. People make judgments about potential criminality quickly. They base their conclusion on a small slice of data, behavior, and their stressful reactions. Thats why mild aggression from an African-American is perceived as more threatening than the identical behavior from a white person.

There were 27 states that had some form of a stand your ground law in place as of 2018. Florida tends to receive the most attention because of its liberal application and famous cases, but liberal states like New Hampshire have it on their books as well. Several states allow for lethal self-defense actions in public through other means, including case law, and Wisconsin, Ohio, and North Dakota have applied the precedent to defending ones vehicle.

Critics of the stand your ground laws say that its presence leads to a shoot first, ask questions later attitude. Cases like Trayvon Martins (which wasnt a stand your ground case initially) make it seem like there would be more deaths in the future instead of less with this right given to the average person.

The pros and cons of stand your ground laws will continue to evolve as cases come before the court. Everyone can agree that making society safer is the ultimate goal of this approach and other self-defense statutes. There may never be 100% agreement on both sides, but there are some places of common ground where some meaningful reforms may be possible.

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17 Major Pros and Cons of the Stand Your Ground Law ...

As a South Shore resident for 15 years, a constituent of the 25th representative district, and a renter, I am compelled to respond to Rep. Tarvers recently published comments in the last issue of the Hyde Park Herald.

To begin with, rent control works. There are a number of recent studies from the University of Southern California, Columbia Business School, Stanford University, and others that highlight the ability for residents to remain in their homes and communities - while also allowing real estate development to flourish.

Secondly, the legislation Rep. Tarver voted against would simply allow municipalities to debate the merits and shortcomings of rent control as one of many tools to address the crisis of housing insecurity in a state where 1 out of every 2 households is housing cost-burdened; i.e. paying more than 30% of their income on housing costs.

Public debate is one of the core tenets of a democracy. Denying local lawmakers the opportunity to explore all of the options at their disposal is simply irresponsible; especially when there are communities throughout Illinois where 1 out every 3 renter is paying more than half of every dollar they earn on rent.

Third, the legislation that didnt advance for a vote in the committee where Rep. Tarver sits, which would regulate rents statewide, would not disincentivize development no more than real estate development has been disincentivized in any of the municipalities that have had rent controlled properties for decades. Nor would the proposed legislation prohibit landlords from being able to cover increases in taxes or fees because those contingencies are written into the legislation. Neither would the proposed legislation create more unaffordable rents as an unintended consequence because the legislation calls for all residential rental property to be regulated.

Its unfortunate that Rep. Tarver would rather hide behind disingenuous comments that seek to obscure the facts. The fact is that despite voicing full-throated support for rent control while campaigning, after the election, he repeatedly denied requests to meet with members of the Lift the Ban coalition; informing them he would rather wait to hear the information presented in the committee at the time of the vote. It was only after he killed the bill in the committee did he schedule a phone call with coalition representatives.

If Rep. Tarver currently opposes rent control against the needs of his constituents, thats clearly his political prerogative. However, it is wholly undemocratic to support legislation introduced into our state legislature by the American Legislation Exchange Council (ALEC), and prohibit city councils and county boards from acting responsibly to meet the needs of their residents.

ALEC, by the way, is the same right wing special interest group that promoted the Stand Your Ground law that George Zimmerman used in defending himself against murdering Trayvon Martin in Florida.

Whether Chicago has rent control should be the purview of Illinois municipalities. Do the right thing Rep. Tarver and allow democracy to take place. Support the repeal of the Rent Control Preemption Act, and empower local lawmakers to decide if rent control works.

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Do the right thing, Rep. Tarver | Letters To Editor | hpherald.com - Hyde Park Herald