There has been much publicity surrounding the shooting death of Trayvon Martin; an unarmed 17-year-old Florida youth shot to death by a neighborhood watch patrolman. On March 19, 2012, The Miami Herald published an editorial that further fueled the flames of racial discrimination and depicted the law enforcement authorities that handled the situation as incompetent. This editorial leads off with, "Law enforcement authorities in the Seminole County community of Sanford have a lot of explaining to do...", follows with, "police Chief Bill Lee vows to follow the evidence, but his department's words and actions up to now only serve to raise more doubts about the investigation" (Miami Herald editorial).
The main problem with this editorial is the racial overtone it elicits. "The victim was black; the shooter is not (Miami Herald editorial)." The tension and the outcries not only in the community, the state, and even national news are becoming more heated daily. All of this does not benefit the pursuit of the truth in this tragic story. Painting this strictly as black versus white, and then suggesting the police department was impartial will only further divide this community and possibly lead to more unrest between the races. There are many unanswered questions, but depicting this solely on an ethnic card does no justice in answering them.
At the center, of the controversy surrounding the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is a Florida law that changed America's definition of self-defense. Florida has a "stand your
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ground" law that allows residents to use deadly force to protect themselves no matter where they are. This event is proof that this law goes too far, but yet in this article it is not ment...
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...ommunity on bringing a change to the law. Presently, they are dividing the community by race. The bigotry and prejudices have no place in this debate. Abolishing this law is the place to start.
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Works Cited
Yamiche Alcindor, Marisol Bello and Kevin Johnson. "Florida case reignites debate over stand-
your-ground laws." USA Today. 21 March 2012. Web. 22 March 2012.
Curtis, Henry Pierson. "Stand Your Ground Law: What's Legal." Orlando Sentinel. 17 March
2012. Web. 22 March 2012.
Miami Herald Editorial. "Dead teen's family deserves answers." The Miami Herald. 19 March
2012. Web. 21 March 2012.
Pearson, Michael. "Florida shooting renews debate over 'stand your ground' laws." CNN. 21
March 2012. Web. 21 March 2012.
Schultz, Randy. "Review 'castle doctrine' law." The Palm Beach Post. 21 March 2012. Web.
21 March 2012.
Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. He says that it was self defense, but after the tragic phone call was released to the media everything took a huge turn questioning if it was a hate crime. If Zimmerman would have stayed in his car that night then Trayvon would still be alive. It could not be self-defense if all Travon had in his hand were skittles and some tea. The whole thing blew up right after it was released to the news. Then when it was time for the trial it was live on television. During the trial and after the verdict is when the social media started to go crazy.
The case involved a neighborhood watchman, who happened to be on duty when he saw a young black man wearing a sweater jacket called a “hoodie”, walking through the neighborhood. George Zimmerman, the watchman, who was twenty-eight years old at the time, called authorities about a suspicious character walking around in his neighborhood. The authorities told him not to do anything; just continue with his rounds and not worry. Zimmerman, however, decided he would take matters into his own hands. He confronted the young man; they got into a brawl and Zimmerman pulled out a gun and shot and killed Martin. That premise will play a role in this paper as an argument as to why George Zimmerman should have been convicted of committing a crime. Even if the jury could not have reasons to convict him of the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin; they had other choices.
Thousands of black teenage males die in gun crimes every year. Many of the teenagers that are killed aren’t even 18 years old. The children and teen killed in 2008 and 2009 could fill more than 229 classrooms. Gun homicide is the number one cause of death for African American male. Trayvon Martin is a perfect example of gun homicide killing our black males. Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old, who was walking home from the 711 on a rainy night. When he was walking, he saw George Zimmerman who was following him and asking him where he was going. When Trayvon began to run, Zimmerman chased him and shot Trayvon Martin because he assumed Trayvon was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. “George Zimm...
On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a volunteer with Neighborhood Watch in Sanford, Florida, called 911 to report “a suspicious person.” As part of Neighborhood Watch, his duties were to report all suspect individuals, vandalism, and crimes within the neighborhood. The suspicious person described was Trayvon Benjamin Martin, born February 5, 1995, and a 17-year-old African-American high school student who lived in Miami Gardens, Florida (“CNN Library," 2014). Martin was an unarmed teenager walking back from a 7-Eleven with a bag of Skittles and an ice tea, which he had bought at the store (Pearson & Botelho, 2013).
The article, Racial Conflict, written by Peter Katel in January 8, 2016, is about racism in the United State and to discuss if U.S. policies are discriminatory. Propelled largely by videos of violent police confrontations with African- Americans, protesters have taken to the streets in Chicago, New York and other cities demanding changes in police tactics. These brutal policing tactics had lead persons to say that U.S. policies are discriminatory. For example, Chicago police officer shot 17-year-old Laquan Mc Donald 16 times in the street. Official kept the video away from the public until a reporter forced its release through freedom of information request. Keeping the video under wrap prove that Mc Donald was killed innocently which also
As present in the Zimmerman case of 2013. 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was an unarmed teen wandering around in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman had called 911 to inform them of a suspicious character around the neighborhood. The police informed him to stay in his car and not approach Martin. Zimmerman did not listen to the police. When the police arrived at the scene, they arrived to a dead body belonging to Martin, an African American teen, who was unarmed. Zimmerman was injured in the encounter. Immediately claiming that it had been an act of self defense. In the beginning, he was not tried as there was no proof to disprove his story. Later it is recommended that he be tried for manslaughter as he did not identify himself to Martin. In a recording of the 911 call there is a voice heard saying, “Help! Help!” It seems the voice is that of Trayvon Martin. Shortly after gunshots are heard. In the end, Zimmerman is found not guilty of murder as it was an act of self
Stand-your-ground law is a type of self-defense law that allow an individual to use deadly force if he/she felt that their life is in grave danger. The Controversy behind Stand-your-ground law is often criticized for encouraging violence. Critics claim that the laws lead to a "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude that results in more injuries and deaths than would occur without the law. Stand-your-ground law was passed by the former Florida governor Jeb Bush in 2005. Afterward, many other states have followed mostly the Republican States. The laws expand on the "Castle doctrine," which says that a person is protected under the law to use deadly force in self-defense when his or her property or home is being invaded.
The stand your ground law is a law that allows people to defend themselves in a suspicious situation somewhere they are legally allowed before having to retreat the area. This law was derived from the Castle Doctrine, which states the person legally residing in that dwelling has a right to protect themselves if someone on or in their residence threatens their livelihood. Florida was the first state of the United States to implement the sand your ground law into their state laws in 2005. Former Florida governor, Jeb Bush, passed the Florida statute to help the citizens protect themselves in the midst of a dangerous situation. This law became a controversial topic when the Trayvon Martin case was the central subject matter of every media outlet
The stand your ground law states that it is a form of self-defense that gives people the ability to use deadly force to defend themselves. This is not the main issue with people who disregard the stand your ground law. Peoples distaste for the law stems from how the stand your ground law is used. What I mean by this is that some states have different meanings and interpretations of how the stand your ground law can/is used. The rulings that have rooted the stand your ground law in the United States currently allows forty six states in America to use this as a reasonable defense. (Shapiro,2013) So, where did this all start from? Over a hundred years ago in Indiana Runyon vs State took place. It stated that the way that the American people think does not allow for them to follow a rule which tells them to retreat, but the person being assaulted or threatened cannot be at fault if they are in the right spot at the right time. Thus, allowing him to defend himself using force which in turn lets him exercise his right to self-defense. The reason that the laws of retreat were enacted dates back to the old British law when the deadly weapons used were swords, this was because swords would allow the defense to retreat lessening the amount of blood spilled during the altercation. British law reflects a “deference to the constabulary,” by which the King owed a duty of protection to his subjects. That’s obviously not part of our tradition.(Shapiro, 2013) Despite what gun prohibitionists claim, the no-retreat rule has deep roots in American law. At the Supreme Court, SYG dates to the unanimous 1895 case of Beard v. United States, in which Justice John Harlan affirmed the right to armed self-defense. (Weaver,2008) It is hard to talk about...
Imagine that your daughter is walking home from the store. A man in a black car starts following her. He gets out and begins to follow her by foot. You daughter begins to run in fear. The suspicious character begins running after her. She stops and decides to face her fear. She knees him and pepper sprays him. Seconds later, shots were fired leaving your daughter dead. She is the aggressor and he is justified for shooting her in “self-defense” under the stand your ground law. The stand-your-ground law is a law that states that an individual has the lawful right to use any level of forces, including lethal force, if they are faced in any situation where they feel harmed. The first “stand your ground” law was passed in April of 2005 in Florida.WHile the “Stand Your Ground” law can be used as self defense, it puts the lives of African American youth in danger by allowing people to take unfair advantage of the law: therefore, O.C.G.A 16-3-23.1 should be prohibited.
Police investigations of shooting that involve officers are based on facts not opinions. Detectives with years of experience investigate the case and the information is then turned over to a prosecutor. The problem with news coverage and the media is they let emotions get a hold of them for views. Whether a video depicting the shooting was shown or not it is not their job to decide who was in the wrong. Attitudes about the prevalence of racial profiling are susceptible to the way the media construct incidents of police misconduct (Graziano, Schuck & Martin
However, thousands of people (supports of Brown) outside of the Ferguson court room and many around the world waited and watched the Grand Jury decide that officer Wilson would not be charged for the murder of Brown. Rioting ensued throughout the city and protests began to rise throughout the entire country. This case is what made the statement “Black Lives Matter” much more popular around the U.S. In another case in Cleveland, Ohio, a 12-year-old African American boy, who was playing with a toy gun, was shot and killed by a police officer. Shortly after, a statement was released that the officer Timothy Lehmann was deemed unfit to be a cop and should be charged with the murder against Rice. People use the statement “Black Lives Matter” because they believe African Americans are clearly being mistreated (many consider/call this racism) from a police brutality perspective and in our court system. Julia Craven, writer for The Huffington Post and a supporter of the “Black Lives Matter” statement says, “When I say "Black lives matter," it is because this nation has a tendency to say otherwise (“All Lives Matter”). Racial discrimination does affect all minorities but police brutality, at such excessive rates, does not. Officers are provided the unrestricted
In the national registration of exoneration, 2111 people being released for a crime they didn't commit. Out of the 2111 people, 985 were black and the other 1126 were a combination of caucasian, hispanic and others. The statistics shows that, almost half of the people exonerated were innocent black people. A black person that is convicted of murdering a white victim is 50% more likely to be innocent of that crime. The law enforcement targeting black males, as caused society to see black males in a dangerous point of view. The story Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old boy who was gunned down because his killer George zimmerman chose to not listen to the police instruction. On his way home after buying a bag of skittles and a can of iced tea from 7-eleven Trayvon was approached by Zimmerman. Zimmerman confronted Trayvon because he suspected him of doing something, which resulted in both men fighting on the floor. Tayvion was killed during this altercation by Zimmerman’s gun, and zimmerman was arrested for it. Even after ignoring the police instruction of not to approach Trayvon, he was released on the plea of self defense. According to Blow (2012), “One other point:Trayvon is black Zimmerman is not.” In making this case, Blow acknowledge the theory of how the death of black males are not taken seriously by law
Summarizing Susan Cooper Eastman’s article, Michael Dunn, a 47 white male shot 17 year old Jordan Davis, a black teen, over a dispute over Davis’ loud music. Jordan Davis was with three other teenagers when they parked in a Jacksonville parking lot next to Dunn. Dunn claims he shot Davis because he panicked when the dispute escalated and he saw what looked like a barrel of a gun through the back window as Davis began to get out of his car. Police say that the teen’s car was unarmed. Assistant State Attorney Erin Wolfson believes that Dunn overreacted because of the way that Davis was speaking to him and not listening to his orders to turn his rap music down. Wolfson quoted a witness who heard Dunn state “You are not going to talk to me that way” as the dispute began to get heated. Defense attorneys believe that Dunn acted in self-defense and that it is reasonable that he used deadly force. Medical evidence shows that Davis died inside his vehicl...
A large problem in America has always been racial issues and still continues to be prevalent in our society today. The United States likes to boast its reputation as a “melting-pot” as many cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds are mixed together, yet the country still continues to isolate individuals based on race. In the constitution, it says that everyone is supposed to have equal rights and liberties, yet after over 200 years, many minorities still struggle to obtain the same respect and equality that their white counterparts have always have. Laws should be created to enforce equality and justice for racial groups.