Posted on 07/14/2013 6:34:00 PM PDT by Hojczyk
One of the great strengths of our federal system is that individual states are allowed to define things like self-defense according to local community standards. In a continental country, a one size fits all legal code couldn't possibly work. People, to state the obvious, are different.Your average Floridian has a far different opinion about guns in society than your average New Yorker. Even issues like personal safety might vary from state to state,
I'm pretty sure if the Zimmerman-Martin incident had occurred in Illinois, a good prosecutor would have convicted George Zimmerman of manslaughter. My understanding is that self defense in Illinois is predicated on the level of force necessary to protect oneself. Since Trayvon Martin did not have a gun, the prosector's argument would be that Zimmerman used an unacceptable level of force to protect himself. And an Illinois jury could easily have seen it that way.
Similarly, I imagine in Texas, or Louisiana, or some other Southern state, Zimmerman would have had a better chance of being acquitted. That's the point that Cohen misses. Florida's self defense statute may be "outlandishly broad" to him but I would imagine to most people in Florida, it sounds about right.
Cohen's rather dramatic interpretation of the facts as we know them - that Zimmerman went "looking for trouble" and that neighborhood watch participants are "vigilantes" - is more evidence of a regional bias at work in the author's writing. Perhaps citizens in New York are more comfortable waiting for police to show up and save their property - or their lives - than in empowering their neighbors to proactively prevent crime. Given the draconian restrictions on guns in New York, that attitude would seem to work for local residents and is an acceptable, if incomprehensible to many, opinion to hold.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Does it matter?
In a lot of states Zimmerman would never had been charged.
In Texas, he never would have even been arrested.
So much time and verbage (brain energy) is wasted by trying to determine if X=Y and why or why not.
We have a nation to reclaim and NOW is the time to strike.
up most of the north hell no, he;d be gone but thankfully we have gun carry, stand your ground and self defence
Probably California, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, and New Jersey.
In illinois he would be dead. Like in Chicago.
Get six Melissa Harris-Perrys on the jury and he's toast, even if you have video of Trayvon bashing Zimmerman's skull into the concrete.
Forgot about Illinois, oh and also Hawaii.
Actually Southern Illinois is pretty conservative but is so outvoted by Chicago etc.
In Illinois, GZ would not have even been armed, and the Martin goon would certainly would have worked him over pretty good, if not worse. And Trayvon, the poor little dear, would have gotten of easy, if not just plain walked.
More "Just-Us."
That's pure BS. The facts were all on Zimmerman's side.
Zimmerman lost track of TM who then jumped him and proceeded to beat him. Unless "thuggery from the bushes" is legal in other states, then there's no negligence of any kind here on Zimmerman's part.
Zero
Would TM have been convicted in every state of aggravated assault?
Well just last night NY proved the state gestapo cannot be trusted to respond to a situation in a timely manner and at the same time restrict our rights to self defense.
We had the occasion to call the NY Storm Troopers at 3:30am this morning about a situation in the neighborhood. We live in a small town SE of Buffalo and the doughnut muncher on the phone said no car was available for an hour or so.
So the same communists who would restrict our right to self defense cannot provide police response in under an hour.
Fortunately this was not a situation requiring more than 7 bullets.
Would he have ever been charged anywhere but Florida?
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