American Bar Association National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws: Preliminary Report and Recommendations
Aug 08, 2014
The ABA's National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws conducted a broad investigation of Stand Your Ground laws across the United States. Much of the recent media attention surrounding Stand Your Ground laws is due to the nationally publicized fatal shooting of the Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin, and the subsequent prosecution and acquittal of George Zimmerman. However, the Task Force's investigation went well beyond Florida's laws and did not focus on any one case. The Task Force explored the broad national landscape of Stand Your Ground laws and how they impact public safety and the criminal justice system. The Task Force analyzed the impact these laws have on a individual's right of self-defense, as well as a victim's right to be informed, present, and heard, and a criminal defendant's right to a fair and just trial. This report details the Task Force's investigation, including the public hearings that were conducted in five regional fora, the 50 state legal survey of the laws, and the latest social science data on the efficacy of Stand Your Ground laws. As of 2014, 33 states have Stand Your Ground laws. In these states an individual has no duty to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense, either at home or in public.
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