Something to keep your eye on this week:
http://www.politico.com/...
The mother of Trayvon Martin will testify at a Senate hearing on “Stand Your Ground” laws next week, Senator Dick Durbin announced on Thursday.
Sybrina Fulton, the mother of the 17-year-old Martin who was slain in Florida in 2012, will be a witness at a hearing chaired by Durbin (D-Ill.) that will explore the “civil rights and public safety implications” of state laws that allow deadly force to be used by citizens to protect themselves, according to media guidance. The hearing will be held on Tuesday. - Politico, 9/12/13
Other witnesses to be testifying are Lucia McBath, mother of Jordan Davis; William Meggs, State Attorney, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, FL; Ronald Sullivan, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the Criminal Justice Institute, Harvard Law School; John Lott, President, Crime Prevention Research Center; Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow, CATO Institute.
Here's a little more background info:
http://voices.suntimes.com/...
Durbin has come under criticism for a letter he sent to companies this summer asking if they’ve supported the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which has pushed for the adoption of legislation that’s based on Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
“It changes the criminal law regarding self-defense and provides immunity for certain uses of deadly force,” the letter Durbin sent to companies stated.
“Although ALEC does not maintain a public list of corporate members or donors, other public documents indicate that your company funded ALEC at some point during the period between ALEC’s adoption of model “stand your ground” legislation in 2005 and the present day,” the letter states. “I acknowledge your company’s right to actively participate in the debate of important political issues, regardless of your position, and I recognize that a company’s involvement with ALEC does not necessarily mean that the company endorses all positions taken by the organization. Therefore I am seeking clarification whether companies that have funded ALEC’s operations in the past currently support ALEC and the model “stand your ground” legislation.” - Chicago Sun-Times, 9/13/13
More to come. Stay tuned.