Cruz argued that while the Trayvon Martin case came up repeatedly during the hearing, Stand Your Ground was “not a defense that [George] Zimmerman raised.” Zimmerman’s legal team never sought immunity under the Stand Your Ground law, but language from that law was included in the jury instructions. “The notion that Stand Your Ground laws are some form of veiled racism may be a convenient political attack, but it is not born out by the facts, remotely,” he added, noting that President Obama supported an expansion of a similar law when he was a lawmaker in Illinois. As has been pointed out in the past, the law Obama supported in 2004 is not as permissive as Stand Your Ground laws typically are, and notably does not permit the use of “deadly force” as Stand Your Ground does in Florida. Durbin shot back after Cruz’s remarks, pointing to the testimony from Hilary Shelton, Director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau. “‘Few issues have caused as much angst and raised as many deeply held concerns among our members and the communities we serve as that of Stand Your Ground laws,’” Durbin said, reading Shelton’s testimony. “‘These laws and their applications have sadly resulted in no less than the murder of people who were doing no less than walking down the street.’” “This continued reference to inflamming racial tension, my friends, we’ve heard this before, over and over again,” he continued. “We have problems with the issues of race in America that we have to face squarely, and when people are being descriminated against, whoever wherever in America, the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights is not going to back away.”
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 21:36:25 +0000