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iverglas

(38,549 posts)
15. I'm going to keep quoting myself
Mon Mar 26, 2012, 05:58 AM
Mar 2012

These laws have been talked about in the Guns forum since Florida started the whole thing. I have tried since the beginning to get the fans to acknowledge what they really say. Some of them, I think are truly incapable of grasping it. And it's not actually simple.

Eventually I encountered a publication in a Harvard student law journal that went into it all in great detail. I quoted from it extensively here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=125237&mesg_id=125237

The "castle doctrine" aspect (and I can barely bring myself to type those words, over and over, because these ugly laws have nothing to do with the real castle doctrine) includes an irrebuttable presumption that a householder who reasonably believes that someone has forcibly or unlawfully entered their home has a reasonable fear of death or injury. The person in question could be a 10-year-old who broke in a basement window, drank the contents of the liquor cabinet and fell asleep. The householder could establish their reasonable belief about the unlawful entry, and then could not be prosecuted for using force against the "intruder", even to the point of causing death.

According to the Senate Committee Report, this presumption is irrebuttable.(20) Therefore, a court will not entertain arguments showing the nonexistence of the presumed fact, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Rather, a court will direct a jury that if they find the basic fact, that the victim was unlawfully in the actor’s dwelling or vehicle, to be proven, then they must find the presumed fact that the actor had a reasonable fear of imminent death or bodily injury. This finding in turn justifies the use of deadly force, regardless of the circumstances.

(20) Fla. S. Rep. No. 107-436, 6pt. III, at 6 (2005) (Judiciary Rep.) (“Legal presumptions are typically rebuttable. The presumptions created by the committee substitute, however, appear to be conclusive.”). Accord Fla. H.R. Rep. No. 107-249 (2005) pt. B, at 4 (Judiciary Rep.) (“A person is presumed, rather than having the burden to prove, to have a reasonable fear.”).

The laws are legal garbage, and have been described as such by judges and legal experts, repeatedly.



typo
You've gotta be kidding me Cali_Democrat Mar 2012 #1
aka legalized murder noiretextatique Mar 2012 #3
Self defense is in the eyes of the survivor Hugabear Mar 2012 #2
Well said, Hugabear. JDPriestly Mar 2012 #4
There's a hidden part of the law. caseymoz Mar 2012 #7
Thank you. That was not in the statutes I read. JDPriestly Mar 2012 #8
Not just JB. What about ALEC, who wrote it? caseymoz Mar 2012 #12
kick Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #22
Excellent comment. JDPriestly Mar 2012 #41
I'm going to keep quoting myself iverglas Mar 2012 #15
Stand Your Ground doesn't include a change in presumption. X_Digger Mar 2012 #20
I was replying to a post iverglas Mar 2012 #36
Thanks. JDPriestly Mar 2012 #40
It says the police have to have probable cause that the use of force wasn't reasonable. X_Digger Mar 2012 #19
If "standard" why is it repeated here, then? caseymoz Mar 2012 #24
It's redundant yes.. what, you think prosecution can happen without probable cause!?! X_Digger Mar 2012 #28
Yes, but once probable cause is vacated caseymoz Mar 2012 #30
Depends at what level and if jeopardy is attached. X_Digger Mar 2012 #33
I haven't even gone into the "as permitted in . . ." part. caseymoz Mar 2012 #34
(1) and (2) don't apply- those are castle doctrine -- we're not talking about.. X_Digger Mar 2012 #35
We'll see. caseymoz Mar 2012 #37
I'm optomistic, yes. X_Digger Mar 2012 #38
You have a problem here. JDPriestly Mar 2012 #44
Maybe that point isn't demonstrated. caseymoz Mar 2012 #50
A jury could find intent in some of this statements during the call. JDPriestly Mar 2012 #51
The problem is that people who think like animals and want to kill JDPriestly Mar 2012 #42
As I said in another reply, people who think like animals and want to kill.. X_Digger Mar 2012 #45
But they will have to go to court and face a jury which Zimmerman needs to do. JDPriestly Mar 2012 #47
There's nothing in the law stopping them from arresting him right now. X_Digger Mar 2012 #49
Yes. I agree, but apparently there have been few convictions JDPriestly Mar 2012 #52
But as in this situation, this law makes people like Zimmerman feel empowered JDPriestly Mar 2012 #39
People inclined to go looking for trouble aren't going to let a law get in their way. X_Digger Mar 2012 #43
No matter what he said after the shooting, he admitted in his call to 911 JDPriestly Mar 2012 #46
I agree. X_Digger Mar 2012 #48
Agreed. JDPriestly Mar 2012 #53
No CIVIL recourse either? liberalhistorian Mar 2012 #10
I'm not a lawyer, but that's my reading of it. caseymoz Mar 2012 #11
The only hope is with a federal civil rights case Major Nikon Mar 2012 #14
That's exactly what it means and it's even worse than that Major Nikon Mar 2012 #13
Actually, ALEC wrote the law. caseymoz Mar 2012 #26
Same nut, different tree Major Nikon Mar 2012 #29
sadly, they have one quasi-legal recourse allowed to them magical thyme Mar 2012 #23
Except other states have adopted photocopies of law. caseymoz Mar 2012 #31
No, the police may not arrest *anyone* without probable cause X_Digger Mar 2012 #17
The "Gunshine State".... daleanime Mar 2012 #5
And his brother was shot by police because he was threatening to commit suicide? csziggy Mar 2012 #6
How do people in other civilized countries manage to survive without reaching for weapons sabrina 1 Mar 2012 #9
What I can't understand is, why does any state feel the NEED for this kind of law? William Seger Mar 2012 #16
no, but when I lived in Massachusetts they enacted a law magical thyme Mar 2012 #25
Arguments used to end with fistfights. Now they end with dead bodies. mainer Mar 2012 #18
This is the world that Republicans have created for us. Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #21
To think this is 2012 and we are going backwards goclark Mar 2012 #27
Your last sentence says it all. Baitball Blogger Mar 2012 #32
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