A Deeper Look at Stand Your Ground

The Tampa Bay Times has done a real service for those of us looking to better understand how Stand Your Ground works in Florida on an individual level. Linked here is a list of victims killed by people invoking SYG. I encourage anyone interested in the Trayvon Martin case to dig into this database, and the stories behind them.

I still think Stand Your Ground laws are a really bad idea. Nevertheless what you find here is not scores of Trayvon Martin, but host of incidents where morality is all over the map. Take the case of Peter and Anthony Julien who killed Brandon and Martin Martinez:

Two brothers came home to find intruders in their house. They approached them with guns and when they saw one of the men aiming his own gun, they opened fire. One robber wound up dead and another was wounded. "I could have called 911 and in two days they let him go and they do it again," Anthony Julien was quoted as saying in the Orlando Sentinel after the break-in. "We shot first and then called 911."

The braggadocio is really disturbing. And yet I strongly believe that if you break into someone's house, and pull guns on them, you have effectively put your life on the shelf.

Or the killing of Dyalan Nuno:

Jorge Saavedra, 14, fatally stabbed Dylan Nuno, 16, at a school bus stop. Saavedra had gotten off the bus early trying to avoid a fight. Testimony showed that Saavedra, who claimed Nuno bullied him and teased him about his learning disabilities, was trying to get away from Nuno and a group of his friends when he was punched in the back of the head. Witnesses said he continued to try to get away. But soon he took out a pocketknife and stabbed Nuno 12 times. One of the thrusts nicked Nuno's heart. Both boys were students at Palmetto Ridge High School.

Or what about a straight shoot-out in the street:

A street shootout in Tallahassee between two groups of men left a suspected gang member, 15-year-old Michael Jackson, dead. Prosecutors charged the man who brought Jackson to the shootout, 20-year-old Jamal Taylor, with manslaughter. Also charged with manslaughter were two members of the rival group, Jeffrey Brown, 23, and Andrae Tyler, 23. The person who shot Jackson was not identified. Both groups said the other side fired first in the gun battle which was in retaliation for an earlier argument and shooting. Police said more than 30 shots were fired during the Holton Street incident.

More in the article. Dig in. There's lots of meat. Forgive my lack of conclusions. I'm still digging myself.