The Castle Doctrine is an age-old
legal concept that has arisen from English Common law which allows the defence
of ones' home and offers a special degree of legal immunity to individuals that
defend themselves against attack when they are forced to defend their homes. Think of the old adage "A man's home is his castle" as your frame of reference. Some
people term these laws as a "no duty to retreat in your home" law or a "make my day" law.
Most states in America have such laws that protect individuals against
civil action as well as legal prosecution, preventing assailants from suing the
defender of a home or their next-of-kin for wrongful death, medical bills, disability or
pain. In some states, homeowners must prove that they made an effort to retreat from threats and in others, this is not the case. The stand-your-ground laws in some states also mean that the duty to retreat for self-protection is not required even outside one's residence, stating that a person has no obligation to abandon any place that they have a right to be because they are being threatened by an assailant, thus the problems in Florida.
Beard v. United States way back in 1895 was
the key to future stand-your-ground laws in federal court. The plaintiff,
one Mr. Babe Beard a non-Indian resident of the Indian Territories, got into a brouhaha over a cow that was supposed to belong
to his adopted stepson, Edward Jones. When Edward took the cow, his brothers went
to the Beard house, armed with shotguns, to take the cow back, threatening Mr.
Beard that they would kill him if they did not get the cow back. When
they showed up at the Beard farm, one of the Jones brothers was armed with a
concealed pistol. To defend himself against the perceived threat, Mr.
Beard struck both brothers, killing one who died from the effects of having his
skull crushed with a blow from Mr. Beard's gun. Here's the final
paragraph of the Supreme Court finding:
"The defendant was where he had
the right to be, when the deceased advanced upon him in a threatening manner,
and with a deadly weapon; and if the accused did not provoke the assault, and
had at the time reasonable grounds to believe, and in good faith believed, that
the deceased intended to take his life, or do him great bodily harm, he was not
obliged to retreat, nor to consider whether he could safely retreat, but was
entitled to stand his ground, and meet any attack made upon him with a deadly
weapon, in such way and with such force as, under all the circumstances, he, at
the moment, honestly believed, and had reasonable grounds to believe, were
necessary to save his own life, or to protect himself from great bodily
injury."
Back to the present. From the Brady Campaign
website, here is a map showing the states (in blue) that have
"stand-your-ground" laws:
Most states have some version of the
"stand-your-ground" legislation; in some cases, the legislation is so
strong that homeowners are not forced to attempt a retreat before using force
to defend their homes and in some cases, citizens are allowed to use deadly
force in their cars or at work or even any place they find themselves. Each state incorporates into its laws
which premises are covered, the degree of retreat that is required and whether
non-deadly resistance is required before lethal force can be used.
Two states in particular have very
strong "stand-your-ground" laws. Texas allows citizens to use lethal force when an intruder
has entered or is attempting to enter using force, is attempting to remove
someone from a home, car or workplace using force or is attempting to commit
murder, rape or robbery. An attempt to retreat is not required in Texas.
Here's a screen capture showing part of the
Act covering the use of deadly forced in defense of a person:
Here's the key phrase that protects
the defender, giving them a presumption of innocence:
As we now know, Florida also has
very strong Castle Doctrine laws that, as shown here, even protect domiciles that are mobile
and may even be as temporary as a tent and also covers a homeowners' temporary
guests:
Here is the key statute that provides immunity
from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force and key
to the Zimmerman acquittal:
Basically, Florida's laws mean that
an individual has no duty to retreat when threatened. In fact, you will
notice that Florida courts will even cover a defendant's legal costs,
compensate them for the loss of income and all other expenses if they are found
to be immune from prosecution related to any civil action brought by a plaintiff related to the use of force in any case.
Other states with particularly
strong stand-your-ground laws (in alphabetical order) include Alabama, Arizona,
Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.
States with limited Castle Doctrine
laws include Idaho, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Dakota, Vermont,
Virginia and Washington, D.C. In these states, homeowners have little
right to protect their homes using deadly force. Note that in the case of
Virginia, there is no statute, rather, common
law clearly states that Castle Doctrine laws apply anywhere that a citizen is
located.
It's now obvious that these laws
derived from the Castle Doctrine are very controversial and that one's view on
the issue is closely aligned with one's view on gun ownership. Not
surprisingly, the NRA has taken a strong "pro
stand-your-ground" approach. On the other side of the issue, the Center for Media and Democracy notes that the
rate of homicides in Florida alone that are legally justified has jumped by 300
percent since Florida's stand-your-ground laws were passed in 2005.
This is clearly yet another issue
that will continue to divide America.
Posts
