Zimmerman Stand Your Ground Trial: Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General, Calls for Review of Law
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder expressed his support for the amendment of the Stand Your Ground law on Tuesday, according to Fox News.
The controversial legislation was at the center of the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin trial.
Holder called for a review of the law, during a speech to a crowd at the annual NAACP convention in Orlando, Fl. on Tuesday. The attorney general's comments came after he confirmed on Monday that his office is looking into the possibility of reviewing the law.
"Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation's attention, it's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods," Holder said at the NAACP event.
Holder went on to suggest that the law is excessive because a legal defense for using deadly force, when retreat is no longer an option, has existed for some time
"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," Holder said. "By allowing -- and perhaps encouraging -- violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety."
At least 22 states have similar Stand Your Ground laws to those in Florida, with varying interpretations. In someregions, an individual evoking the law must first attempt to flee the confrontation before using force, while other states only allow the law to be established if a person is in their home or office when protecting themselves. Florida has neither of those restrictions on their law.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, however, said that officials should refrain from politicizing the case. Scott mentioned he already formed a bipartisan commission to review the state's Stand Your Ground law.
On Sunday music icon Stevie Wonder told a crowd at his Canada concert that he will not perform in the Florida until the state repeals its Stand Your Ground law.
