A task force charged with the responsibility of reviewing Florida’s Stand Your Ground law will determine whether the law should be changed.
In the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, Florida's law that permits the use of lethal force outside of the home may be looking at a revision.
While Florida citizens have always had the right to protect themselves with lethal force inside of their own homes, Stand Your Ground extends that right to outside the home, provided you are in a place where you are legally permitted to be and are not committing a crime.
In the Trayvon Martin shooting, accused shooter George Zimmerman has claimed that he shot the 17 year-old because he believed such force was necessary to save his life. Medical records indicate that Zimmerman had suffered a broken nose, along with cuts to the back of his head.
One Palm Beach judge, in speaking to the 19-member task force, said that the law is unclear as it is written.
The task force will wrap up its work by March, in time for the next legislative session.
Given the controversy that has stemmed from the Trayvon Martin shooting, it is likely that Stand Your Ground will undergo a revision, although I do not believe that it will be completely abolished. There are still plenty of cases in which innocent, law-abiding people have used that law to save their lives or the lives of others.