Is the Promotion of "Stand Your Ground" Laws an Invitation to Kill?

Alison Davis
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Is “Stand Your Ground” an Invitation to Kill?
In the book, "Stand Your Ground," Victoria Christopher Murray depicts the dilemma that individuals face in society because of controversial issues that force them to take a position. In the book, a white man has shot a black teenage boy who is seventeen years of age. The mother of the teenage boy is Janice Johnson, who is living in the agony of the death of her son, while the shooter has not yet been arrested. The community is angry at what has happened and is protesting to have justice done for the family. Angry protesters are on the streets demanding that the police and other investigative agencies take up the matter and ensure justice for the teenage boy. Especially now that a white man has murdered a black teenager, the black community wants to see the man locked up. Janice is torn in between two extremes. Should she join the angry protesters and seek revenge for her son or should she stay back and let the whole thing go? On the other hand, Meredith Spencer is the wife of the man accused of murdering the teenage boy. Meredith knows the situation more comprehensively than anyone else. Her knowledge could blow the case open and could potentially endanger her life and that of her son. Meredith is torn between coming out and narrating the order of events so that justice can be done and protecting her life and that of her son.
The promotion of "stand your ground" laws has been critical in ripping apart the traditional understanding of the legitimate application of deadly force in self-defense and hence encouraging people to kill even innocent citizens. Traditionally, the law saw the use of deadly force as justifiable where a person believed that it was critical to neutralizing an imminent and unlawful use of deadly force by an opponent. The same tradition continued that deadly force outside of one's immediate surroundings at home was not justified in the case where a non-deadly response would emerge. For instance, instead of applying deadly force to an aggressor, if one can retreat to a safe place, say in the house, then this would be better. However, in 2005, Florida Legislature and other states with such laws went ahead and expanded an understanding of "stand your ground" laws. Before such laws became applicable, a majority of the US jurisdictions mandated individuals to indicate that they were acting in self-defense. One had to demonstrate that they had been attacked and that they feared for their lives hence using deadly force to protect themselves.
It is sad how “Pennsylvania’s law presumes that an individual using deadly force in self-defense feared for their life or was at serious risk of being harmed. At the same time, the perpetrator enjoys some immunity from arrest or being detained. Detective Ferguson tries to make people understand why the murder of the black teenage boy used deadly force and has not been yet arrested. While the detective is trying to establish the cause of the murder, he is aware that the "Stand Your Ground" law is applicable in this situation. Tyrone asks Detective Ferguson, “The boy who killed my son . . . Has he been arrested?” Detective Ferguson indicates that this has not been done ...