John Yang:
This month in the space of a single week four young unarmed Americans were shot one of them fatally over simple everyday mistakes, pulling into the wrong driveway, ringing the wrong doorbell, getting into the wrong car in a parking lot.
These high profile cases have reignited the debate over self-defense and what justifies the use of deadly force.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, about 30 states have some form of so called Stand Your Ground laws. They expand on a person's right to use force if they feel threatened.
Robert Spitzer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the State University of New York at Cortland. His latest book on U.S. gun policy is "The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights."
Mr. Spitzer, there are differences from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in these laws. But what's the general principle? What's the general idea of Stand Your Ground laws?
Robert Spitzer, State University of New York, Cortland: Well, there are two parts to the Stand Your Ground laws that are relevant. The first is the general idea that if you're in a public place, and you are attacked, or somebody is about to do you grievous bodily harm, or even to kill you, instead of leaving this public place, if you could do so safely, which is a standard, some states have, Stand Your Ground laws so you can stay where you are, and resist force with force even to the extent of killing the other person.
So that's the Stand Your Ground idea, which itself I think, is somewhat controversial in legal circles, but there's an added dimension to this, which began when the state of Florida enacted a heightened Stand Your Ground law in 2005, that not only adopted the standard ground standard, but made it as they said in the law and absolute and irrevocable presumption that an individual who kills or harms another has acted in self-defense and cannot be prosecuted.
This began the spread of a heightened Stand Your Ground law in many states that change the legal presumption. So, if you make a stand your ground claim, all you need to do is say I felt that I my life was in danger, or that I was going to be grievously harmed. And that standard then places the burden on investigators, police prosecutors to try and make the case that No, you really didn't face the threat to claim.
And this shift in the legal standard has really opened the door wide for people to make Stand Your Ground type claims. And in many instances, not all, obviously, to avoid any kind of prosecution. And that widening of Stand Your Ground stand your ground on steroids, or some even call it a license to kill or shoot first laws. That is what has really come to the country's attention in recent years.
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