Stand Your Ground Law and Castle Doctrine: A Comparative Analysis

This report delves into the Stand Your Ground law, defining it as the legal right of an individual to use force for self-defense without a duty to retreat, contrasting it with the Castle Doctrine, which grants similar protections within one's home or business. The report discusses the controversies surrounding the law, including debates over its impact on violence rates, using the state of Florida as a case study, and the implications of such laws. It highlights the case of Michael Drejka, where the defendant claimed self-defense, illustrating the application and complexities of the law. The report concludes that while the Stand Your Ground law provides a right to self-defense, it also poses potential threats to individual safety without clear evidence of deterring crime. The document references various scholarly sources to support its analysis.

Running head: CRIMINOLOGY
CRIMINOLOGY
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Introduction
A stand your ground law, often referred to as ‘line in the sand’ law or ‘no duty
to retreat’ law can be defined as the right of an individual established by way of
law. The stand your ground law provides the individuals with the right to defend
themselves or others against any kind of perceived or real threat by the application
of force even if there was a possibility for retreating safely from the situation. As
per this law any individual does not have any ‘duty to retreat’ from any place where
they have the lawful right to stay. Castle doctrine is reflected as the legal doctrine in
which the lawfully engaged place of an individual is labelled as the place where the
individual has been provided with protection and resistances by which they are
allowed, in specific conditions, for the use of force which might lead up to a deadly
force for defending themselves against any intruder, without being charged with
legal trial as a result of the force that has been used. There have been many
controversies in relation to the applicability of the stand your ground law. Some
scholars are of the opinion that the law provides the individuals with the rights to
self defense. However, many scholars argue that stand your ground law is a clear
threat towards the safety of the individuals without any solid evidence of them to be
a deterrence towards crime (Bell, 2015). This paper aims in discussing about the
stand your ground law in detail with the example of case law. The paper will
discuss the difference existing between the stand your ground and castle doctrine.
In furtherance, in this paper the controversies surrounding the stand your ground
law will also be discussed in brief.

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Stand Your Ground Law
Stand your ground law is the right of an individual established by way of law
in which the person is provided with the right for applying force of any amount of
force that can be considered as reasonable in any given situation for the purpose of
self defense or for the defense of anyone else. This law provides that any person
does not have the ‘duty to retreat’ from any situation in a place where they have a
right for being. The stand your ground law is often seen as being referred to as ‘line
in the sand’ law or ‘no duty to retreat’ law. In more than half of the states in the
United States the law of Stand Your Ground have been adopted. This law can be
observed as ignoring the legal precedent that have been in existence for centuries
and further can be observed as supporting the increase of violence in regular
conflicts (Franks, 2016). Previously in the laws that existed for self defense any
individual would be allowed to be using defense for their own protection or the
protection of others yet these laws were also observed to be recognizing the
responsibilities that the individuals had for the avoidance of causing either death or
severe bodily injury (McClellan & Tekin, 2017). In the current times, the stand
your ground laws provide the victims to be using lethal force from the initial stage
and not as a last resort. One such example is the case of Michael Drejka. In the case
the defendant was seen as stating that he was in fear of his life when he shoot the
victim during an argument regarding parking spot. The test of self defense that had
been laid down under the provision of the Stand Your Ground law was used in the
trial (Ackermann et al., 2015). The defendant was charged with manslaughter. In
the investigation it was found that the victim was unarmed. The defendant provided
with the defence that he had been shoved by the victim which caused him to take

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out his gun and shoot in self defense. However, his defense was rejected by the
Courts and he was subsequently charged with one count of manslaughter.
Stand Your Ground vs. Castle Doctrine
Castle doctrine, often referred to as the defense of habitation law or the castle
law, is considered as the legal doctrine in which the lawfully occupied place of an
individual is designated as the place where the individual has been provided with
defences and resistances by which they are permitted, in specific situations, for
the use of force which might lead upp to a deadly force for defending themselves
against any interloper, without being charged with legal trial as a result of the
force that has been used. By way of Castle Doctrine the duty to retreat by an
individual for the reasonable avoidance of violence is seen to be reduced in case
the assault on the individual occurred on their own home. However the Castle
Doctrine is not invocable as a defined legislation, instead the doctrine is
considered as a set of principles which are being incorporated in one form or other
in many of the jurisdictions. In the principles of castle doctrine civil immunity is
not provided for the suits having lower burden of proof like wrongful deaths
(Jansen & Nugent-Borakove, 2016). Castle Doctrines are similar to Stand Your
Ground laws; however, there is a major point of distinction between the two. The
Castle Doctrine can generally be seen as being limited to the real properties which
include the homes or business places or even cars of the people. The main idea of
Castle doctrine principle is that individuals are granted the rights to be secure and
safe in their own place of abode.

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Controversies for Stand Your Ground Law
There have been many criticisms in relation to the stand your ground law. The
critics have often been seen to be claiming that the laws for stand your ground
laws encourage violence. The laws are also criticized for leading to an attitude of
“shoot first, ask questions later”. This attitude leads toward resulting more deaths
and damages than there would have been in absence of the stand your ground laws
(Spitzer, 2015). As Florida had been the first state in the United States to be
adopting and implementing the stand your ground law it has been considered to be
significant for the test of the implications of the stand your ground law health and
safety of the public As per a multitude of studies it had been found that after the
implementation of the stand your ground law in Florida there has been an
escalation of violence in the entire state (Bell, 2015). There has been an increase
in the rates of firearm homicide by 32% and in the rates of overall homicides by
24%. There has been an increase in the rates of both reasonable and unlawful
homicides in Florida after the implementation of the stand your ground laws. It
has further been found that in almost 79% of the cases the confrontations would
have been avoided if the assailant had retreated. It was further found that in almost
68% cases the individual who was killed was unarmed (Humphreys, Gasparrini &
Wiebe, 2017). It has been stated by many that the stand your ground law is a clear
threat towards the safety of the individuals without any solid evidence of them to
be a deterrence towards crime.
Conclusion
In the paper a detailed discussion has been done on the subject of stand your
ground law. Stand your ground law is the right of an individual established by way
of law in which the person is provided with the right for applying force of any

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amount of force that can be considered as reasonable in any given situation for the
purpose of self defense or for the defense of anyone else. This law rejects the duty
to retreat of an individual. The paper also provides the readers with the definition of
the castle doctrine and its distinction with the stand your ground law. The main idea
of Castle doctrine principle is that individuals are granted the rights to be secure
and safe in their own place of abode. The paper also provides the example of the
stand your ground law by way of a recent case. The case of Michael Drejka has
been The paper also provides the criticisms that arise against the stand your ground
law backing those criticisms with the statistical data of Florida where the law was
first implemented. In conclusion to the above discussion it can be deduced that
although the citizens are provided with a right of self defence in case of an attack
yet there are many situations where this law is misused. In furtherance to this, stand
your ground law is a clear threat towards the safety of the individuals without any
solid evidence of them to be a deterrence towards crime.

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Reference
Ackermann, N., Goodman, M. S., Gilbert, K., Arroyo-Johnson, C., & Pagano, M. (2015).
Race, law, and health: Examination of ‘Stand Your Ground’and defendant convictions
in Florida. Social Science & Medicine, 142, 194-201.
Bell, P. C. (2015). Stand your ground laws: Mischaracterized, misconstrued, and
misunderstood. U. Mem. L. Rev., 46, 383.
Franks, M. A. (2016). Safety, Self-Defense, and Stand Your Ground Laws. University of
Miami Legal Studies Research Paper, (16-35).
Humphreys, D. K., Gasparrini, A., & Wiebe, D. J. (2017). Evaluating the impact of Florida’s
“stand your ground” self-defense law on homicide and suicide by firearm: an
interrupted time series study. JAMA internal medicine, 177(1), 44-50.
Jansen, S., & Nugent-Borakove, M. E. (2016). Expansions to the castle doctrine: Implications
for policy and practice.
McClellan, C., & Tekin, E. (2017). Stand your ground laws, homicides, and injuries. Journal
of human resources, 52(3), 621-653.
Spitzer, R. J. (2015). Politics of gun control. Routledge.