Don't go trying to buy Skittles if you're black in Florida ...

[eaglesnut]

This sums it up for me.

Why is this man not even in jail? I have no tolerance for rent-a-cop types who let the power go to their heads....

How about cop types who let the power go to their head?

[Marley]

Unfortunately it's not a risk to their careers. It's an acquired skill in the industry.

You come to this discussion with an obvious anti-police bias. Not all cops are bad but you seem to paint all of them as terrible people. That's your right but I'm not willing just to jump in and conclude that all of the cops involved in this specific case are wrapped up in a conspiracy to protect some neighborhood watch guy that killed an innocent kid. Show me a common tie or reasonable evidence that they are protecting themselves and Zimmerman and I'd be more than willing to weigh it.

[DutchBird]

Sure, it's possible. It just seems unlikely that multiple cops would risk careers by trying to intentionally sway eye witness testimony for some neighborhood watch guy. Not like Zimmerman is a brother in blue.

That assumes that they actually do risk their career by intentionally swaying eye witness testimony. And frankly I seriously doubt that it does (or at least that the odds are that it will), considering how broken the system is - see wrongful conviction rate, and what goes wrong there.

And FTR, system covering cops is not limited to the US alone (over here a judge threw out a case recently, because the cops clearly made false statements in the documents; the prosecution is now appealing, spinning the blatant falsification as a 'accidental error made because the cops were tired.') Cops are rarely if ever seriously punished for misbehaviour. Indeed, our current Undersecretary of Justice was the leader of a drugs-investigation team run amock, and which had basically turned into a drug-smuggling ring.

[Hyped]

How about cop types who let the power go to their head?

I am tolerant because...ummm..they actually have badges, LOL. Rent-a-cop? Fukkk them....

[eaglesnut]

They're all rent a cops. Just at different levels of citizen ****ing powers.

[Hyped]

They're all rent a cops. Just at different levels of citizen ****ing powers.

A rent-a-cop doesn't have a jail to put me in, a lot of back up, helicopters, etc....

At most, a rent-a-cop has a gun...but probably is advised to never discharge it.

[USAFspeedboy]

This is the very deffinition of how the system is broken. If im one of the kids family members, i put a round in his face, and claim self defense. After all he killed one innocent man its likely he would do the same to me.

[CalgaryHawkFan]

This is the very deffinition of how the system is broken. If im one of the kids family members, i put a round in his face, and claim self defense. After all he killed one innocent man its likely he would do the same to me.

Whoa man, don't rush to judgment, wait until all the facts are in! (isn't that what you were saying in the other thread? )

[seahawksfan837]

This is what happens when you let special interest groups write your laws...in this case the NRA.

Proof please?

[USAFspeedboy]

Whoa man, don't rush to judgment, wait until all the facts are in! (isn't that what you were saying in the other thread? )

R u kidding me? I never said ignore facts, the facts are in, eye witness reports no gun on the kid, no act of violence or instagative act by the victim. I understand you were just looking for a way to somehow invalidate claims that you dont understand, but you picked a subpar way to do it pal.

[CalgaryHawkFan]

R u kidding me? I never said ignore facts, the facts are in, eye witness reports no gun on the kid, no act of violence or instagative act by the victim. I understand you were just looking for a way to somehow invalidate claims that you dont understand, but you picked a subpar way to do it pal.

<shrug> Just pointing out the inconsistency. Both the police and military are 'total' institutions, and share some of the same issues.

[Superbelt]

Proof please?

Who else is advocating for universal Stand your Ground laws?

[PopeyeJones]

Proof please?

Robert Batey, a criminal law professor at Stetson University College of Law, said Stand Your Ground was spawned when the National Rifle Association experienced some legislative defeats in Congress. "In order to show they had some clout, they started a state-by-state campaign getting states to adopt Stand Your Ground laws."

http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/f...est-ar-360570/


The “stand your ground” measures, being pushed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), have been rejected in a handful of states, including gun-friendly Wyoming and Virginia.

http://www.stateline.org/live/detail...ntentId=107276

Dubbed "Stand Your Ground" bills by supporters such as the National Rifle Association, the measures generally grant immunity from prosecution and lawsuits to those who use deadly force to combat any unlawful entry or attack. Several states allow people to use deadly force in their homes against intruders; the new measures represent an expansion of self-defense rights to crimes committed in public.

The NRA and other supporters say the bills are needed in many states that require people under attack in public places to withdraw from the situation, rather than retaliate, unless they can show their lives are in danger. "For someone attacked by criminals to be victimized a second time by a second-guessing legal system is wrong," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre says.

LaPierre says the NRA is targeting 29 duty-to-retreat states where people can be prosecuted, sued or both if they don't retreat from criminal attacks.

Florida's law could be facing its first test. Donald Montanez, owner of a Tampa towing company, is charged with murder in the shooting of a man whose car was impounded. Prosecutors say Montanez fired as the man drove off without paying a fee. Montanez's attorney, Roger Rigau, says the new law should protect Montanez, who feared being hit by the driver.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...-defense_x.htm

[USAFspeedboy]

<shrug> Just pointing out the inconsistency. Both the police and military are 'total' institutions, and share some of the same issues.

Not even close brother, cops would crap there pants if they went through real combat stress. Apples n oranges.

We are in america, not a war torn country, and cops dont have a threat of getting blown up for a living. My uncle who is a vietnam vet and a former crash unit detective in l.a. tells me all the time. Its two seperate animals

Comparing american cops, to the job troops do at war is like comparing an animal control officer to police.

[seahawksfan837]

Robert Batey, a criminal law professor at Stetson University College of Law, said Stand Your Ground was spawned when the National Rifle Association experienced some legislative defeats in Congress. "In order to show they had some clout, they started a state-by-state campaign getting states to adopt Stand Your Ground laws."

http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/f...est-ar-360570/


The “stand your ground” measures, being pushed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), have been rejected in a handful of states, including gun-friendly Wyoming and Virginia.

http://www.stateline.org/live/detail...ntentId=107276

Dubbed "Stand Your Ground" bills by supporters such as the National Rifle Association, the measures generally grant immunity from prosecution and lawsuits to those who use deadly force to combat any unlawful entry or attack. Several states allow people to use deadly force in their homes against intruders; the new measures represent an expansion of self-defense rights to crimes committed in public.

The NRA and other supporters say the bills are needed in many states that require people under attack in public places to withdraw from the situation, rather than retaliate, unless they can show their lives are in danger. "For someone attacked by criminals to be victimized a second time by a second-guessing legal system is wrong," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre says.

LaPierre says the NRA is targeting 29 duty-to-retreat states where people can be prosecuted, sued or both if they don't retreat from criminal attacks.

Florida's law could be facing its first test. Donald Montanez, owner of a Tampa towing company, is charged with murder in the shooting of a man whose car was impounded. Prosecutors say Montanez fired as the man drove off without paying a fee. Montanez's attorney, Roger Rigau, says the new law should protect Montanez, who feared being hit by the driver.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...-defense_x.htm

Ok...that doesn't seem to be the case in this story, as the shooter appears to be the aggressor, no?

Bad interpretation of the law doesn't mean the intent of the law was bad.

I think that they need to spend time looking at the word "reasonable" in the law, and realize that this was NOT a case of reasonable suspicion or whatever the terminology was. I actually don't have a problem with the majority of self-defense laws, but I don't see how this falls under it.