The 'Stand Your Ground' law explained in one handy cartoon.

[WilliamPitt]

[Voice for Peace]

1. outstanding/rec

[pscot]

2. Except the reality is that the black guy

would be face down, on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back while three cops beat on him with their maglights. And that's the way it is.

[progressoid]

5. Yup. n/t

[marshall gaines]

15. i'll agree

[FredStembottom]

3. Could SYG be the birth-place of some awful race war?

...cuz a shooter of the shooter shooter is right around the corner.

[Major Hogwash]

4. When you have to look over your shoulder to keep an eye on the neighborhood watch guy!!

Because he wants to put notches in his gun belt!!
Great.
Great idea.

[Progressive dog]

6. Funny but makes perfect sense

The Florida judge, jury, and executioner law. How is this law constitutional?

[pokerfan]

7. Pat Oliphant has a good one too

[Major Hogwash]

11. Wow.

And yet some people think that Zimmerman is innocent.
Incredible.

[lonestarnot]

8. That 'bout splains it yeah.

[SoutherDem]

9. This is what I have been asking myself

This morning I heard someone defend the shooter saying he was "attacked" because of the wounds he had. Well, if he did, wasn't the young man simply following the "stand your ground law"? I know if I was being followed I certainly would think I was being threatened.

We all know if the young man had killed the shooter he would have been arrested on the spot, no questions asked.

Let's face it, the "stand your ground law", is a law, written by white men, supported by the NRA, to defend white people. I have heard the number of shooting deaths have gone up since it was passed. I would like to know how many white people have used this defense successfully, compared to how many black people?

Also, how many white people are questioned for being in a black neighborhood, compared to the number of blacks for being in white neighborhoods.

[marshall gaines]

18. side

i'm on your side in this comment of yours

[marshall gaines]

20. agree

I agree with your comment and question. Those Sanford authorities never expected this over a white male shooting a black male. I hope justice, you know the blindfolded woman with scale, prevails

[ibegurpard]

10. indeed

where does it end?

[mainer]

12. Now we have reason to feel threatened by all neighborhood watch guys

ergo, it's now OK to shoot them.

[krispos42]

13. That's how I would have preferred it turned out.

If Martin had managed to pull the gun from Zimmerman and shot him after Zimmerman had confronted him and drawn his gun, then Martin would be fully covered by the SYG law.

[marshall gaines]

16. no

no Martin would be in jail now charged with murder

[krispos42]

24. Illegal posession of a handgun, perhaps.

But if he is railroaded into jail, then again, the problem isn't the law, it is the people enforcing the law.

[-..__...]

14. Funny how both cartoons alude to the Martin shooting...

but conveniently fail to portray the shooter as a Hispanic man.

Why is that?

[marshall gaines]

17. zimmerman

george zimmerman is hispanic, i thought when the NYT referred to him as that, it was some kind of mistake or typo

[Pachamama]

22. Yeah, "Zimmerman" is such a traditional hispanic or latin name....

I guess if his mother or his grandmother was latin or hispanic, even with a good German name, having that little bit of latin/hispanic blood in him, even if an 1/8 that made him have dark hair and brown eyes (because you know, there are no brown haired brown-eyed Germans) then we have to call him hispanic and not white....

[AtheistCrusader]

26. You know it would take you like 2 seconds to search and find out his mom is Peruvian.

His father is white, his mother is from Peru. Granted, Peru is a melting pot of pretty much everything, but his mother appears to be latina, and both speak spanish.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2017819414_zimmerman23.html

(Of course, none of this settles any question of whether he might or might not be hostile to any particular race.)

[Number23]

19. How do you know what the shooter was "portrayed" as?

You do realize that Hispanic is a CULTURE, not a color don't you? Black people, Asians, even blue-eyed blondes can be Hispanic (not to mention Muslim and Arabic too!)

[Initech]

21. Bill Hicks had a pretty good analogy too:"

[spin]

23. If anyone had a reason to claim self defense under the "Stand Your Ground" law ...

it would have been Trayvon Martin. Martin did not initiate the incident and he might well have had reason to fear for his life when approached by Zimmerman (especially if Zimmerman showed his concealed weapon or drew it to gain leverage in the confrontation.)

Despite what the media says, the "Stand Your Ground" law does not allow you to chase and kill.

I suspect that the Sanford police department is hiding behind the "Stand Your Ground" law in order to avoid arresting and prosecuting Martin. If so, this tactic will backfire because of all the media attention.

[AtheistCrusader]

27. Strongly agree. The law has been mis-applied.

[Lucky Luciano]

25. Pretty good toon. nt

[catseye]

28. The Truth Is...

This law (as many others are) was written by the experts, in this case the NRA, and pretty much handed to their paid for representatives to pass......