Holder: Time To Reexamine ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws

Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 18, 2013.
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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder weighed in on the “Stand Your Ground”-type laws for the first time Tuesday, saying it’s “time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods.”

“These laws try to fix something that was never broken. There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if – and the ‘if’ is important – no safe retreat is available,” Holder said at the 2013 NAACP Convention Tuesday. “But we must examine laws that take this further by eliminating the common sense and age-old requirement that people who feel threatened have a duty to retreat, outside their home, if they can do so safely.

“By allowing—and perhaps encouraging—violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety.  The list of resulting tragedies is long and, unfortunately, has victimized too many who are innocent,” he continued. “We must ‘stand our ground’ to ensure that our laws reduce violence, and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent.”

Holder’s comments come in the wake of the verdict acquitting George Zimmerman on all charges related to the murder of Trayvon Martin, and a day after Holder said the killing of Martin was a “tragic and unnecessary shooting.”

The Justice Department announced Sunday that it is reviewing the case to see whether criminal civil rights charges can be filed against Zimmerman. 

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