Item — HN Reader

I find the Florida system eminently sensible, even not going far enough. Maybe just because I'm kind of used to it.

German self-defense law is even stronger than all those Stand Your Ground laws in the US.

I guess only here law professors can write about the "ignominious/dishonorable flight" when discussing options against an attacker.

"Justice does not have to yield to injustice" is a very common saying.

But even if the law allows you to strike back, it's usually still a good idea to retreat. :-)

1 comments

"But even if the law allows you to strike back, it's usually still a good idea to retreat. :-)"

Indeed; the good thing about Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws is that they presume the citizen without fault will make a good decision on that and don't allow the state to second guess him along with everything else it will be questioning (i.e. SYG doesn't touch on biggest question of "is this use of lethal force justified?", which should be the real focus).

I've seen some horrible abuses of duty to retreat from your own home in Massachusetts when the courts were negating as much of every legislative reform as they could; you should never have to decide between abandoning your children to the tender mercies of a thug and going to jail (real case, followed contemporaneously in the Boston Globe in the early '80s).

A saying from an aquaintance who works as a public prosecutor in capital cases:

"Generally it's preferable to discuss the limitations of self-defense with the prosecutor, than having the family discuss with the undertaker."