Florida Man Uses Stand Your Ground Defense in Killing of Black Teen Over Loud Music

[Bazinga]

72. I do appreciate your input.

Perhaps my comments came off a bit too "final" regarding SYG and racism. I assure you they weren't meant to be. This is simply information that must be included when considering the effect of SYG, and is often dismissed in favor of the most inflammatory statistics one can find. The Tampa Bay Times article you mentioned is particularly guilty of this (it, by the way, did not try to write off the Zimmerman trial, quite the opposite actually). The TBT chose to highlight the comparison of white and black victims while completely ignoring the fact that there is no difference in acquittal rates of minority defendants.

When it comes to George Zimmerman I am just as disgusted as you. Even if he was justified in using lethal force that night (and I don't think he was), to turn the killing of a child into some sort of circus act pseudo-celebrity is beyond contemptible. I simply try not to base my opinion of SYG on that one case, and I certainly do not equate SYG with "the idea that someone minding their own business can be profiled and executed because of their race."