Task Force Calls Stand Your Ground A Good Law
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) - A task force looking into Florida's Stand Your Ground law has determined the law is good and shouldn't be overturned.
According to a report from the group released Friday by Governor Rick Scott's office, all persons, regardless of citizenship status, have a right to feel safe and secure in Florida and have a fundamental right to 'stand their ground' and defend themselves from attack with proportionate force.
Stand Your Ground laws have long been on the books, but typically they were limited to a person's home and referred to as defending your castle.
Florida was one of the first state's to extend the law to include any location.
The report recommended the Legislature should review standards for neighborhood watch groups. The parents of Trayvon Martin had asked the task force to change the law so it couldn't be used in a self-defense argument after their son was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman last year.
The task force said neighborhood watch volunteers should be told not to pursue, confront, or provoke potential suspects, which Zimmerman allegedly did during the Trayvon Martin shooting.
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