After delaying the hearing due to the Washington Navy Yard shooting, Senator Dick Durbin (D. IL) finally held his hearing on the controversial "stand your ground" laws:
http://www.rollcall.com/...
Instead, the hearing is meant to spark a “national debate on the impact of these laws,” said an aide to Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin said. The Illinois Democrat is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, which will evaluate the controversial self-defense laws that are now on the books in at least 22 states.
“Our hearing will examine how these laws came to be; the way in which the laws have changed the legal definition of self defense; the extent to which the laws have encouraged unnecessary shooting confrontations; and the civil rights implications when racial profiling and ‘stand your ground’ laws mix, along with other issues,” the aide, who declined to be identified, said in an email to CQ Roll Call.
Durbin first announced the hearing in July, following the widely publicized trial of George Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., who shot and killed Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, following a confrontation in February 2012. A jury acquitted Zimmerman of all charges after determining he had acted in self defense, even though he initially pursued Martin. The verdict set off a national debate about racial profiling and laws, such as Florida’s, that provide added legal protections for people to use deadly force if they feel threatened. - Roll Call, 10/29/13
Durbin's hearings aren't just aimed to spark a debate regarding gun control and racial profiling. The hearing is aimed at going after ALEC's influence on gun laws:
http://thehill.com/...
In August, Durbin wrote to 300 companies known to have previously funded ALEC (despite the outfit’s best efforts to keep its donor list confidential), asking them to clarify whether they currently support the organization and ALEC’s model Shoot First legislation. ColorOfChange applauds this effort to bring increased transparency to ALEC’s operations – we’ve been doing something similar for close to two years. In the process, we have persuaded more than 50 major corporate funders, including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Walmart, Procter & Gamble and HP, to cut their ALEC ties.
ALEC has done extraordinary damage. According to a new study by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Shoot First states have seen the number of “justifiable” homicides spike an average of 53 percent in the first five years after passage. The overall murder rate has also risen. States without Shoot First, by contrast, have seen an average decline in justifiable homicides of five percent over the same period.
Other evidence points to a disproportionate effect on African Americans – something of particular concern to ColorOfChange and our over 900,000 members. A study based on FBI crime statistics shows that white killers are 354 percent more likely to be cleared of wrongdoing in Shoot First states if their victims are black than if their victims are white. - The Hill, 10/29/13
One of the key witnesses to testify before Durbin's committee was Trayvon Martin's mother:
http://www.politico.com/...
The mother of the boy, Trayvon Martin, also made a public appeal Tuesday for lawmakers nationwide to amend stand your ground laws, which more than 20 states have adopted in some form. She testified that her son was “not the criminal that some people have made him out to be.”
“What kind of message are we sending if our kids … don’t feel safe; don’t feel safe simply walking to the store to get candy and a drink?” Sybrina Fulton told a Senate subcommittee that was holding a hearing on the issue Tuesday. “We need to do something about this law when our kids cannot feel safe in our own communities.”
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, who led the hearing, said it is time for such laws “to be carefully reconsidered.” Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, noted in his opening remarks that legislators in Florida have worked on revising the law, and he urged other states with similar statutes to review them as well. - Politico, 10/29/13
Fulton gave quite an emotional testimony:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/...
Sybrina Fulton described how the family had just celebrated her son Trayvon Martin's 17th birthday three weeks before he was killed in the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community in Sanford, Fla.
"He was simply going to get a drink and some candy. That tells me right there, his mentality. That tells me that he was not going to get cigarettes or bullets or condoms or other items of that nature," she told a packed Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. "Trayvon was minding his own business."
"So I just wanted to come here to talk to you for a moment to let you know how important it is that we amend this stand-your-ground because it did not work in my case. The person that shot and killed my son is walking the streets today, and this law does not work. We need to seriously take a look at this law," she said. - NBC News, 10/29/13
Fulton is calling on lawmakers to review and revise the "stand your ground" laws:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Fulton spoke extemporaneously, but in her prepared written testimony she said that she is not seeking to restrict legal gun ownership. "I only want to see the laws surrounding self-defense clarified so that they are applied logically and most importantly, consistently."
"Stand Your Ground" laws should be amended "to include language that clarifies its original intent," she said, citing comments by former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who signed Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law and said at the time that " 'Stand Your Ground’ means stand your ground. It doesn't mean chase after somebody who's turned their back.”
The Florida-passed law "certainly did not work in my case," Fulton said. "The person that shot and killed my son is walking the streets today and this law does not work. We need to seriously take a look at this law, we need to seriously speak with the state attorney’s office, the police departments, more attorneys, we need to do something about this law when our kids cannot feel safe in their own community."
A Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman of charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter in July.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who chairs the Judiciary subcommittee on the constitution, civil rights and human rights, said that it is time for "Stand Your Ground" laws "to be carefully reviewed and reconsidered. Whatever the motivation behind them, it's clear these laws often go too far in encouraging confrontations that escalate into deadly violence. They're resulting in unnecessary tragedies and they are diminishing accountability under our justice system."
Durbin cited data to suggest that the laws have increased racial disparity in the nation's criminal justice system. An unnamed study he cited found that in states with the laws, nearly 17 percent of homicides involving white shooters and black victims were ruled justified, compared to 1 percent of homicides with black shooters and white victims. - Washington Post, 10/29/13 - Washington Post, 10/29/13
Of course this asshole also happened to be on the committee and had to open his big, stupid mouth:
http://www.businessweek.com/...
Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said self-defense “is a bedrock liberty of every American” and such laws are the responsibility of state governments. The federal government should increase its prosecutions for illegal gun purchases and violent gun crimes, he said.
“The stand-your-ground law does not apply to aggressors,” Cruz said. “It is a defense that only, only, only applies to those who are the victims or potential victims of other violent aggressors.”
He also said some politicians are trying to exploit the Martin case “for agendas that have nothing to do with that young man who lost his life.”
The Senate panel also heard from Lucia McBath, mother of 17-year-old Jordan Davis, shot to death in Jacksonville, Florida, late last year.
“My son Jordan was shot and killed last November while sitting in the back seat of a friend’s car listening to loud music,” McBath said. “The man who killed him opened fire on four unarmed teenagers even as they tried to move out of harm’s way. That man was empowered by the stand-your-ground statute.”
“This law declares open season on anyone that we don’t trust for reasons that we don’t even understand, that don’t even have to be true,” McBath said. - Bloomberg Businessweek, 10/29/13
I thank Miss Fulton for her bravery and for her testimony. I also thank Senator Durbin for holding this hearing. One can only hope this will spark a serious debate.