Stand Your Ground – Self Defense Statute
Florida’s self-defense statute known as Stand Your Ground is basically an extension of the Castle Doctrine, which protects a person that kills an intruder in his/her home (or castle) by finding his/her actions to be in self-defense. However, the Stand Your Ground law extends that protection to cars, boats, and other places people have a right to be. It states that under Florida law, a person is justified in the use of deadly force only if he/she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. You do not have a duty to retreat if you are in a place where you have a right to be, even if that place is outside someone else’s home on the way to your car. Unfortunately, the broad language of the statute has created a gray area, leaving many judges to find their own interpretations of the law.
The basic understanding of the statute is that if someone attacks you in your home, then you have the right to use deadly force to defend yourself and you have no duty to retreat. But the question has become, what constitutes self-defense? If a man is pepper sprayed in the face and then attempts to defend himself by stabbing the people around him thirteen times, is he acting in self defense? No, he cannot argue that because he was pepper sprayed he had the right to stab everyone that he came in contact with. Cases involving gang shootings resulting in murder have utilized the Stand Your Ground Statute and defendants have received immunity for their actions in shooting rival gang members.
There is a concern that this statute is too broad and provides protection where there should be none. Courts need to clarify what constitutes self-defense and also need to impose a stricter standard of who qualifies. Stand Your Ground was created to protect the average law abiding citizen that finds himself/herself in an unfortunate predicament with no other option but to use self-defense, but only for the purpose of self-defense and not to vent anger or kill rival gang members. Everyone is entitled to the right to protect himself/herself, but the courts must be careful about what they consider the proper forms of protection to be.
