Video: ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law Isn’t Making Anyone Safer

Chuck Morton is the Chief Assistant State Attorney in Ft. Lauderdale, Florid

The deadly shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin earlier this year put Stand Your Ground laws under the microscope. These laws allow the use of deadly force as a means of self-defense without the obligation to attempt retreat from the threat first.

Currently, 30 states have enacted some form of Stand Your Ground legislation, yet statistics show that such laws aren’t reducing crime rates or making citizens any safer. Florida Assistant State’s Attorney Chuck Morton explains how these laws can actually make living in a state with a Stand Your Ground statute more dangerous.

If protecting citizens was the goal of Stand Your Ground laws, they are not working, according to Morton. They only make the work of judges, police and prosecutors more difficult.

Morton says parts of the law are arbitrary and confusing:

• There is a presumption of fear, regardless of actual evidence.
• A defendant who invokes the Stand Your Ground law has immunity from civil liability and criminal prosecution.
• There is no duty to retreat, even if it means saving a life.

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