Research Paper Outline “Police officers arriving on the scene of an early shooting on February 26, 2012, in the Florida town of Sanford had no way of knowing they were beginning an investigation that would lead to most racially charged criminal case since O.J. Simpson’s in 1995.” This evening the man who got shot was Trayvon Martin, who happened to be walking in the neighborhood with his hoodie on. George Zimmerman a neighborhood watch volunteer in the gated community, immediately suspected Martin because he was black and wearing a hoodie and started to follow him. When Zimmerman started to follow Martin, he also called the police and told them there was a suspicious man walking around in the neighborhood. During the call the operator told Zimmerman not to follow or confront Martin. Zimmerman kept following Martin until Martin noticed and started to run in fear. Zimmerman eventually caught up and slowed down and kept coming closer and closer. Zimmerman confronted Martin and a fight broke out. Martin called for help but was not heard upon and during this fight Martin an unarmed and innocent man was shot to death. Trayvon Martin was an young man who was racially profiled and who’s case was affected by ‘Stand Your Ground’ law. In the case the defense attorney’s used a law called “Stand Your Ground. The “Stand Your Ground” law is “The justifiable use of force in home protection, or when there is a presumption of death or great bodily harm or if a person is presumed to have a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself”(Covington). The force used in this law can be gunfire, which was used in Martin’s shooting. This law is naturally flawed and is being used in cases which have came down to the wrong verdict. “… This law is being used in gang fights…drug dealers and gang members often use the law to escape prosecution from murder on the basis of self-defense”(Covington). This law can and is being used to get away with crime and putting dangerous people back on the road and some of them might get involved in other shootings and get away with it sill. This law in Trayvon Martin case is being used by Zimmerman as self-defense. Zimmerman lawyer argues that Trayvon Martin started the fight and Zimmerman had a fear for his life and had right to “Stand his Ground”. But didn’t Martin also have right to “Stand his Ground”. Martin was being followed by an armed man who he did not know, which will be alarming and threating to him. This reason is the reason why Martin had more arguable reason to “Stand his Ground”.
