'Stand Your Ground' Linked To Increase In Homicides
Psychopath Killer Kevin Weaver 1988 by brizzle born and bred
License (according to Flickr): Attribution-ShareAlike License
License (according to Flickr): Attribution-ShareAlike License
If a stranger attacks you inside your own home, the law has always permitted you to defend yourself. On the other hand, if an altercation breaks out in public, the law requires you to try to retreat. At least, that's what it used to do. In 2005, Florida became the first of nearly two-dozen states to pass a "stand your ground" law that removed the requirement to retreat. If you felt at risk of harm in a park or on the street, you could use lethal force to defend yourself. The shooting of unarmed 17- year - old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. , drew national attention to these laws. Now, researchers who've studied the effect of the laws have found that states with a stand your ground law have more homicides than states without such laws.
Keywords:
laws ground laws states Hoekstra homicide homicide rate homicides lethal force Texas A&M Mark Hoekstra state stand self-defense killings Trayvon Martin researcher Mark Hoekstra crime time period criminals nearly two-dozen states higher homicide rate result old Trayvon Martin Republican state Rep. data Hoekstra Texas A&M University national crime statistics violence National Rifle Association cases law professor John pre-existing crime trends increase police classify shootings study Georgia State University homicide rates justifiable homicide justifiable homicides homicide trends analysis ground law United States Florida ground statutes hand different states people numbers Donohue ground jurisdictionPeople:
Mark Hoekstra
Overall Sentiment: -0.192653
Relevance: 0.882423
| Sentiment | Quote |
|---|---|
| -0.229188 | "These laws lower the cost of using lethal force," says Mark Hoekstra, ... |
| 0 | "These laws lower the cost of using lethal force," says Mark Hoekstra, an economist with Texas A |
| -0.185821 | M University who examined stand your ground laws. "Our study finds that, as a result, you get more of it." |
| -0.242558 | "Our study finds that, that homicides go up by 7 to 9 percent in states that pass the laws, relative to states that didn't pass the laws over the same time period," he says. ... |
| -0.210818 | he says, "we find no evidence of any deterrence effect over that same time period." |
| -0.534689 | "We find that there are 500 to 700 more homicides per year across the 23 states as a result of the laws," he said. ... |
| 0 | "It could be that these are self-defense killings," he said. ... |
| -0.0956714 | "It could be that these are self-defense killings," he said. "On the other hand, the increase could be driven by an escalation of violence by criminals. Or it could be an escalation of violence in otherwise nonviolent situations." |
| -0.0111298 | Hoekstra checked to see whether police were listing more cases as "justifiable homicides" ... |
| -0.104956 | "One possibility for the increase in homicide is that perhaps [in cases where] there would have been a fistfight ... now, because of stand your ground laws, it's possible that those escalate into something much more violent and lethal," says Hoekstra. |
| 0 | "The imperfect but growing evidence seems to suggest that the consequences of adopting stand your ground laws are pernicious, in that they may lead to a greater number of homicides — thus going against the notion that they are serving some sort of protective function for society," he says. ... |
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John Donohue
Overall Sentiment: -0.153339
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Overall Sentiment: 0.069984
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Marion Hammer
Overall Sentiment: 0
Relevance: 0.199797
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Country: United States
Overall Sentiment: -0.122238
Relevance: 0.668275
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Source Site: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/02/167984117/-stand-your-ground-linked-to-increase-in-homicide?ft=1&f=1007
URL Provided Desc:
A controversial self-defense statute appears to produce more killings, according to a new study. Advocates for the law say it's working as designed. But researchers have different explanations about what might be happening.
Webpage Provided Title:
'Stand Your Ground' Linked To Increase In Homicides
Source Site: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/02/167984117/-stand-your-ground-linked-to-increase-in-homicide?ft=1&f=1007
