‘Stand Your Ground’ law looks familiar

It was nearly impossible this week to miss the national news story about the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

Martin was walking home from a convenience store when a Neighborhood Watch captain deemed him suspicious and began following him. In the confrontation and scuffle that ensued, the unarmed Martin was shot to death by a bullet from the watch captain’s gun.

The case has exploded because of its racial themes — Martin was an unarmed black teenager, and the watch captain was either white or Latino.

But what caught our attention in this story wasn’t the question of whether race was a factor in the incident that led to Martin’s death. It’s a legal twist in this case that seemed familiar and caught our attention.

So far, the watch captain who shot and killed Martin remains at large, and police there say the reason is a Florida law colloquially known as the “Stand Your Ground” law. The law says it is legal for a person to use deadly force in any place the law allows them to be, if they are acting in self-defense, or to prevent a violent felony.

This sounds much like legislation introduced in Juneau this year by Valley Rep. Mark Neuman, who represents Big Lake, Knik and Willow.

Neuman’s proposed House Bill 80 was in the news recently when Jay Fayette, a seasoned assistant district attorney, flew to Juneau on his own dime to voice his concerns about the proposed law change. Specifically, he cited Anchorage homicide cases that could easily have swung the other way if such a law were at a defendant’s disposal.

Since the Florida version of the law has come under fire, elected officials from both parties there have started to question it.

“If there’s something wrong with the law that’s in place, I think it’s important we address it,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, told the Associated Press. “If what’s happening is it’s being abused, that’s not right.”

State Sen. Chris Smith, a Democrat, agreed.

“Stand Your Ground appears to be giving suspects better protections from arrest and prosecution than increased security measures for the citizens the law was originally intended to protect,” he said.

Florida was among the first states to adopt a Stand Your Ground law. Since then, 20 states have followed. We hope that our lawmakers in Juneau will take advantage of the opportunity this provides to witness and benefit from other states’ trial and error.

In the Trayvon Martin case, Stand Your Ground is facing a high-profile test of its merits. It’s a test the law appears to be failing.