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Editorial See other Editorial Articles Title: No retreat laws as a racial issue Good grief. An editorial in the Madison Times is headlined "Blacks who stand their ground often imprisoned." It cites to a Tampa Bay Times article that claimed "Defendants claiming "stand your ground" are more likely to prevail if the victim is black. Seventy-three percent of those who killed a black person faced no penalty compared to 59 percent of those who killed a white." I immediately noted the article gives the race of the person killed, but not the race of the person defending, which is the real measure. I knew that homicides overwhelming occur within ethnic groups. They're overwhelming white on white, black on black, etc.. So if defenders who kill blacks are acquitted at high rates, that means blacks who assert self defense are acquitted at high rates. The article didn't give figures for the ethnicity of the defender, but it did give its raw data, in the form of individual files. UPDATE: These are the results after reviewing all the files. I disregarded pending cases, and the few where ethnicity was not noted. I list here as "exonerated" all those in which charges were not filed, were dismissed, or the person was acquitted: White defenders: 50 exonerated, 26 convicted. Exoneration rate: 65.7% African-American defenders: 20 exonerated, 10 convicted. Exoneration rate: 66.6% Hispanic American defenders: seven exonerated, one convicted. Exoneration rate: 87.5%. Looking at it another way, African-Americans make up 16% of Florida's population, but 26% of persons exonerated under Florida' "no retreat" and self-defense statutes. So in the end, no retreat or stand your ground laws actually benefit minorities compared to the rest of Floridians. African-Americans and whites are virtually tied, and Hispanics come out ahead. The Tampa Bay Times was trying to reverse the actual effects, in order to generate a story that fit its narrative. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: X-15 (#0)
Imagine my shock. A news organ rearranging the evidence to fit a dictated conclusion? Well, my word. Just as footnote ol' Mark's first writing job was for a newspaper in San Francisco. |
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