Stat of the Day

73% of Those Who Killed Black Victims Went Free Under 'Stand Your Ground'

Reuters
Adam Martin 2,412 Views Jun 4, 2012

In the Tampa Bay Times' analysis of 200 cases of Florida's "stand your ground" law, this finding stands out: "people who killed a black person walked free 73 percent of the time, while those who killed a white person went free 59 percent of the time." The law that says you have a right to use deadly force if you feel threatened is George Zimmerman's defense in the killing of Trayvon Martin, who was black. The paper said it was "the first to examine the role of race" in stand-your-ground cases, and while it found that major disparity between the people killed, it didn't find evidence of bias in the prosecution of the cases -- that is, both black and white defendants claiming the defense fared similarly.

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