On the 11th of April, 2012 the State of Florida levied second-degree charges against George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The case would quickly gain national attention for nationwide protests concerning racial tensions and problems in the United States. Yet the case would bring another concern into the spotlight, the problems surrounding the idea of stand-your-ground laws. Following Florida v. Zimmerman, the then Attorney General Eric Holder would criticize stand-your-ground laws as “senselessly expand[ing] the concept of self-defense and sow[ing] dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods”. (Holder 2013) The problems that Attorney General Holder and others have found in stand-your-ground laws stems from the fact that laws
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More specifically, it allows the common citizen to utilize lethal force in public areas, an act reserved previously to the government. This leads to the common problems associated with the creation of lethal spontaneous orders. While spontaneous orders; complex, bottom-up, self-organizing systems; do provide many advantages over government organization, the addition of lethal force to them rarely does. (Hayek 1973)When citizens alone utilize lethal force the justification behind the taking of a life quickly comes into question. Never were the citizens standing their ground given the consent of the people to kill in a public area, accessible to all. A basic tenant of being a citizen is giving up your ability to utilize force to good governess in return for the protection of rights and liberties, as well as other benefits gained through citizenship. As Miami Police Chief John Timoney stated prior to Florida’s passing of its now infamous stand-your-ground laws, “whether its trick-or-treaters or kids playing in the yard of someone who doesn't want them there or some drunk guy stumbling into the wrong house, you're encouraging people to possibly use deadly physical force where it shouldn't be used." (Goodnough
More specifically, it allows the common citizen to utilize lethal force in public areas, an act reserved previously to the government. This leads to the common problems associated with the creation of lethal spontaneous orders. While spontaneous orders; complex, bottom-up, self-organizing systems; do provide many advantages over government organization, the addition of lethal force to them rarely does. (Hayek 1973)When citizens alone utilize lethal force the justification behind the taking of a life quickly comes into question. Never were the citizens standing their ground given the consent of the people to kill in a public area, accessible to all. A basic tenant of being a citizen is giving up your ability to utilize force to good governess in return for the protection of rights and liberties, as well as other benefits gained through citizenship. As Miami Police Chief John Timoney stated prior to Florida’s passing of its now infamous stand-your-ground laws, “whether its trick-or-treaters or kids playing in the yard of someone who doesn't want them there or some drunk guy stumbling into the wrong house, you're encouraging people to possibly use deadly physical force where it shouldn't be used." (Goodnough