'Stand your ground' has become a get-out-of-jail-free license to kill

As has happened before in Florida, "stand your ground" is being appropriately scrutinized in the aftermath of the shocking shooting death of Markeis McGlockton, an unarmed black man who was gunned down for trying to protect his family — including his young children — in a dispute over a handicapped parking space.

The local sheriff concluded that shooter Michael Drejka pulled the trigger because he was in fear, and therefore stand your ground applied. Somehow, according to this inexplicable interpretation of the law, Drejka needed to defend himself from a man who had pushed him but who was backing away from the confrontation.

Originally, Florida’s stand your ground law emerged as an outgrowth of the traditional “castle doctrine,” which allowed individuals to defend their home (or “castle”) with whatever force was necessary. Somehow, that concept has been warped into a virtual get-out-of-jail-free card that is essentially a license to kill. 

Too often in today’s society, people act first and think later. The most common place for this is on social media. In the real world, this mentality is leaving corpses in its wake.

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Twisted individuals believe they can be judge, jury and executioner without suffering consequences for their actions. Unfortunately, thanks to misguided ideas like stand your ground, these individuals turn out to be correct. Let’s call them what they are: murderers — self-appointed “wannabe cops” abusing lousy legislation. 

This outrageous situation cries out for justice. Five members of Congress, including three U.S. senators, have called for the Department of Justice to investigate why stand-your-ground immunity was extended to a man carrying a concealed weapon who angrily approached a car — with young children inside — and created a confrontation.

Had McGlockton been the one to pull out a gun, there is no way stand your ground would have been extended to him, a man of color. He would have been charged with murdering a white man.

What has happened in this case is inexcusable. But it is only part of the much broader problem that is the stand-your-ground law itself.

The Journal of the American Medical Association has reported a significant increase in unlawful homicides since stand your ground was enacted in Florida in 2005.

These deaths are often people of color who will never get to share their side of the story. Being black in America entails constant, underlying fear because at any moment, you could become the next target.

Apart from being immoral on principle, stand your ground automatically applies to the last one standing — regardless of how the conflict began. In this case, it’s being applied to the wrong person. A law that allows someone to pick a fight he can win only by pulling a trigger is facilitating reprehensible behavior. It’s time for America to consider what it feels like to be on the other end of the gun.

There is a difference between protecting your own castle and attacking someone else’s. The disturbing reality is that stand your ground perpetuates the cycle of African-American men taking bullets from self-appointed vigilantes.

The law did not extend to a black man attempting to protect his castle. Instead, it's now being used to justify a sheriff deciding to let a killer walk the streets with no punishment.

Stand your ground represents a serious lapse in judgment by the state of Florida. It sets the clock back years to a time when black men were routinely killed in America with virtually no explanation needed. Well now, someone has to take responsibility. 

Enough is enough.

Ben Crump is a nationally known civil rights attorney and advocate, and is the founder and principal of Ben Crump Law. Crump is representing the McGlockton family.