Executive Summary - Florida Stand Your Ground Task Force Report Chairman Florida State Senator Chris Smith, 4/30/12 In the years since passage of the drastic revisions to Chapter 776 of the Florida Statute regarding the use of force in self-defense, Floridians have grappled with the tragic consequences of a arguably, ambiguous law which has shown demonstrable confusion within and among police departments, prosecuting offices and the courts. While commonly referred to as the “Stand Your Ground” law, the statutes have not simply helped law abiding citizens protect themselves from attack, but instead, have often been used as cover for the perpetrators of crimes. Each day that goes by without legislative action places innocent lives at stake. While the focus on public safety and the previously well-established principles of self defense are paramount to the Task Force’s review, the evaluation is also concerned with preventing operation of a system tantamount to lawlessness, where any person can, within a matter of seconds, render himself investigator, judge, jury and executioner, all in one. In a civilized society, governing institutions must provide all Floridians with grounds for confidence in the justice system. The work of the Task Force is geared to avoid extreme pendulum shifts, and to ensure the balance which provides all persons in Florida assurance in their safety and the rule of law. The Task Force’s recommendations are arranged in the following order: recommendation unanimously agreed to, consensus recommendations - which had significant debate and dissension, and one discussion item. Unanimous -Cases should be presented to a Grand Jury to allow for a cross section of Society to determine what a reasonable person would do in that case. -Educate the public and law enforcement. -Create a system to track self-defense claims in Florida. -Amend the Imminent Requirement -Title Change Consensus -Remove the Presumptions. -Make Presumption Rebuttable -Eliminate the Presumption of Reasonable Fear. -Define unlawful activity in section 776.013 -Clarify the role of provocation Discussion -Repeal senatorchrissmith/standyourground/finalreport.pdf
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 06:13:38 +0000
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