Controversial law “Stand Your Ground” only works in your defense if you are NOT black. thegrio.com posted an article of the 10 most infamous stand your ground cases. The article (link below) could have been put together better, possibly linking longer more detailed articles about the cases. BUT what they did a good job at was showing pictures. I think this was important so that people reading the article can actually humanize the victims. And in this instance, the victim can also be the one sitting in jail. Take for example Marissa Alexander, she’s a woman and black – who after being attacked and threatened by her husband fired a WARNING SHOT (he was not hit) above his head faces 20 years behind bars. She claimed “Stand Your Ground” as defense and lost… A Spanish man, Greyston Garcia, claimed “Stand Your Ground” and won after stabbing a man to death for stealing his car stereo – he did not call 911 and sold all the stereos possessed by his victim (also Spanish). Garcia SHOULD be in jail. I mean the man is dead, after being stabbed to death. There should be a point when stabbing someone that you stop – before you’ve killed them.

Are the rulings in the Stand Your Ground cases racially driven? I am leading towards yes. Florida has a large Spanish presence, and from what I’ve heard and read,  light Spanish people in Miami run things. Garcia is from Miami. From the article it is unclear which part of Florida Alexander is from, but the key thing to remember is that she is black and DID NOT kill anyone. Yet she sits behind bars as Garcia walks free. I am not sure how a radio can equal a life. ALSO, when googling Garcia, he had a previous record. Alexander, as far as I could find, does not have a previous record. Although she was standing her ground, by trying to scare someone rather than kill them (which personally I would think is the better of the two, why does stand your ground mean you had to kill the person or you weren’t really scared enough? Maybe you were scared enough but you know you wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt of taking someone’s life – even if they may have “deserved” it).

Still, I am not 100% convinced it’s completely racially motived. I am leaning towards it, but I would need to research more of the cases before I could concretely say yes. With that said however, what is shocking to me is that there is no precedent set by the courts on what qualifies as Stand Your Ground. I mean, I am not sure how you can kill someone over a radio, but not be allowed to threaten with a warning shot someone who has beat you and threatened your life… It makes no sense. There is definitely some shadiness or bias going on here….

notjustmythoughts

article: http://www.thegrio.com/specials/trayvon-martin/10-most-infamous-stand-your-ground-cases.php