The shock and horror I've felt about the Trayvon Martin slaying is profound.
This unjustified killing of an unarmed young man on the basis of skin color, illustrates so much of what is still wrong in America.
And stunningly, the Florida law that effectively grants this unwarranted "license to kill" has some very shady origins as well ... some xerox copy origins from the usual "Rollback America" suspects:
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
ALEC Has Pushed The NRA's "Stand Your Ground" Law Across The Nation
by Matt Gertz, mediamatters.org -- March 21, 2012
The legislation apparently preventing the successful prosecution of Trayvon Martin's killer was reportedly adopted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as model legislation that the shadowy group has spent years promoting across the country with the help of their allies in the National Rifle Association.
[...]
Florida's statute on the use of force in self-defense is virtually identical to Section 1 of Castle Doctrine Act model legislation as posted on the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). According to CMD, the model bill was adopted by ALEC's Civil Justice Task in August 2005 -- just a few short months after it passed the Florida legislature -- and approved by its board of directors the following month.
[...]
The language is identical to ALEC's Castle Doctrine Act model legislation [...]
3. A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place [other than their dwelling, residence, or vehicle] where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another, or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
So self-defense is now in the eye of the beholder?
What "deadly force" did George Zimmerman face, before he gunned down a young man who was not armed, and not dangerous?
This unjustified killing of an unarmed young man on the basis of bias and hatred, illustrates so much of what is still wrong in America.
And sadly, it is just the tip of a little noticed iceberg ...
All thanks to yet another ALEC-enabled legislative agenda, currently sweeping the nation.
'Stand your ground' laws
At least 21 states (in blue) have laws allowing citizens to use deadly force without attempting to retreat when threatened outside the home.
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Source: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
USA TODAY Mar 21, 2012 -- Yamiche Alcindor, Marisol Bello and Kevin Johnson,
[...]
Since the law was enacted in 2005, the number of justifiable homicides in Florida has skyrocketed, said state Sen. Oscar Braynon, who represents the area in Miami where Trayvon lived with his mother. In 2005, there were 43 such cases; in 2009, the last complete year available, there were 105, he said.
Nationally, justifiable homicides by private citizens have been slowly rising since 2005. The number in 2010, the last full year measured by FBI, showed 278 such killings, the most in 15 years. The FBI uses a more restrictive methodology than Florida, only counting those people who are slain during the commission of felony.
[...]
Hundreds more have died by the 'Castle Doctrine" that ALEC has brought the nation's neighborhoods.
Citizens killing citizens; well-armed citizens taking the Law into their own hands.
May the DOJ get to the bottom of this 'Travesty of Justice' in Florida, and see Justice done, for the sake of Trayvon Martin's life, cut far too short -- for no justifiable reason
... and for the sake of all those other people who have met a similar vigilante victim's fate, just without the headlines.
ALEC legislation should not be enabling any Gun Owner to become Judge, Jury, and Executor -- based on little more than their own vile prejudices and paranoia.
May Trayvon's killer have to face a Jury himself, and soon, and get the Justice that his unmerciful and hateful deeds deserve.
