Constitution Check: Is There A Constitutional Right To “Stand Your Ground”?

“The stand-your-ground law is one portion of justifiable use of deadly force. And what that means is that the state must go forward and be able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt…It makes the case in general more difficult than a normal criminal case.”

–Angela Corey, State Attorney in Jacksonville, Fla., who has been appointed to lead the investigation into the February 26 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. Corey commented to ABC News on March 26 about the possible prosecution of the individual who has said he shot the youth in self-defense.

We checked the Constitution, and…
“Justifiable use of deadly force” is another way of talking about a right of self-defense. That right is a very curious thing in the law: it is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution, yet it has ancient roots in legal theory and history, everyone probably assumes they have such a right, and perhaps half the states make it a specific right under their own constitutions.

And all of that is why State Attorney Corey may have a tough time getting a guilty verdict if she were to file criminal charges against George Zimmerman, the “neighborhood watch” volunteer at the Retreat at Twin Lakes subdivision in Sanford, Fla., for allegedly killing Trayvon Martin.

At this point, if he is charged, his defense very likely will be based in part on a Florida statute now widely known as the “Stand Your Ground” law. But behind that law, initiated by the National Rifle Association and now imitated in more than 20 other states, is an argument that such a right to defend one’s self in the face of imminent danger ought to be treated as constitutional in nature.

That is based on a theory that has been talked about for years in academic circles and among gun-rights advocates, and, if one could discuss it without the emotion of the kind stirred up by Trayvon Martin’s tragic death, the theory is not entirely frivolous.

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