Florida Senate Passes Stand Your Ground Expansion, Gun Bills

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

January 28, 2016 at 1:23 pm
The Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Senate has passed a bill that would expand the state’s “stand your ground” law to place more burden on prosecutors to prove self-defense wasn’t a factor when charging someone with assaulting or killing another person.

The Senate voted 24-12 for the bill on Thursday. If it becomes law, the prosecution would have to prove at a pretrial hearing that a defendant invoking stand your ground wasn’t acting in self-defense. Right now the burden of proof is on the defendant.

The Senate also unanimously passed two gun bills. One would outlaw firing a gun in densely populated areas. The other would give judges flexibility in sentencing people for aggravated assault while possessing a gun rather than being forced to issue at least a 10-year sentence.

Read more: http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/florida-senate-passes-stand-your-ground-expansion-gun-bills/

[valerief]

1. Lunacy, sheer lunacy. nt

[Laffy Kat]

2. Gotta be effing kidding me! nt

[forest444]

3. Somewhere, buried deep in that bill, there's an exception for shape-shifting aliens.

[hack89]

4. The burden of proof should always be on the government

shouldn't it?

[starroute]

6. Not when it comes to invoking a special-case defense

Stand-your-ground laws carve out a special exemption from the ordinary laws covering homicide. It should be difficult to invoke that exemption and you should have to prove it applies in your case. It can't be a blanket assumption where every killer can say "I feared for my life" and the government has no choice but to accept it.

[hack89]

8. If the government can prove murder than it is a minor delay, correct?

it is too easy be sent to prison in America. It should be a lot harder.

[CommonSenseDemocrat]

16. The government in most cases has the burden of proof to refute a justification

Affirmative defenses excluded

[NaturalHigh]

12. That was my thought too.

[TeamPooka]

5. It's open season down there now. When will they realize stuff like this keeps people from

visiting or moving to the state?

[Stryst]

11. I've been in Panama City for three years to care for my ailing grandparents

As soon as they pass, my partner and I (and our part of the tax base) are out of here. When I look at the anti-LGBT crap that constantly spews from most of the elected officials here, combined with the increasingly vague definitions of self defense and the authority to use lethal force, I can easily see a future where my partner or I gets assaulted because we're going to cause the next great flood or something.

[groundloop]

7. Existing 'Stand Your Ground' law was strong enough to let Z get away with murder

Why the fuck do they think that damned law needs to be strengthened further? If a loser such as Zimmerman can successfully use that farce of a law to get away with murder how can anyone in their right mind.... oh the hell with it, I'll just give myself a stroke trying to think about this crap.

[24601]

10. Actually, it wasn't the defense in either the Zimmerman or Dunn cases. Here are the cite:

ABC News: And yet neither defendant invoked the controversial aspects of Florida's law. In fact, both defendants argued basic self defense law that would have been similar in just about every state in the nation.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/floridas-stand-ground-law-determine-zimmerman-dunn-cases/story?id=22543929

I don't blame you, most of the "experts" reported that the defense argued stand your ground when they never did. Further, Zimmerman waived his right to a SYG pre-trial hearing.

[rockfordfile]

14. It's Sanford FL

It's Sanford, FL not surprised that the racist pos walked.

[olddots]

9. great for tourism

a sad day for a country going mad .

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

13. All black people move north if you know what's good for you!!

Florida is not a safe place for ANYONE! I'll never set foot in that hell-hole again.

[24601]

15. If that happened, Dems never win there again in any statewide race to include electoral votes. n/t

[CommonSenseDemocrat]

17. This law actually protects black people

Namely, it's crafted to address the case of the black woman who was shooting warning shots against her abuser, I believe.