Summer Moon of the First Harvests
Stand your ground. An extension of the castle doctrine to include personal space when out of the house if I understand it correctly. It meshes well with the NRA and those fearful Americans who see a burglar, rapist, home invader, government spy, black helicopter or revenue agent at every corner, but especially just around the corner from home.
The facts of the Trayvon Martin case have been jumbled and mixed since the case began and the decision yesterday should come as no particular surprise. After all, if you recall, the police initially refused to charge Zimmerman and prosecutors agreed. It was only after considerable public pressure that Zimmerman saw the justice system. Even then it seems the prosecution proceeded half-heartedly.
The horror of the case is its probably correct verdict. That is, with stand your ground as the prevailing legal doctrine governing close personal struggle in Florida, the aggressor is easy to confuse with the victim and vice versa. The law tips in favor of the one who used deadly force. In regard to the death of Trayvon Martin it was not only Zimmerman who was on trial, but the vindictive, armed and frightened public that supports laws like stand your ground.
And they were found guilty. Guilty of creating a situation so murky that one man can shoot another and have the law say look the other way. In a country where the democratic principle puts power in the hands of the majority it is dangerous, actually lethally dangerous, to have a populus fearful. Fearful people can create the grossest of inhumanities, just ask any Jew in Europe at the time of World War II, or gays and lesbians before Stonewall, or pregnant women before Roe vs. Wade, or Africans in America before the Civil War.
Fear is the enemy and the NRA and its ilk are its prophets.
