Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Joe HendersonMarch 10, 2017

Supporters will argue that Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law is vital to individual safety, but the measure never took judgment and common sense into the equation. It legalizes impulses that can be deadly. On Friday morning in a Dade City courtroom, Judge Susan Barthle ruled that retired Tampa police officer Curtis Reeves’ impulse when he […]

Brendan FarringtonMarch 5, 2017

Florida’s “stand your ground” law, a source of contention for years, could soon provide even more protection to people who invoke it. Some lawmakers want to make prosecutors prove a defendant wasn’t acting in self-defense before proceeding to trial. Florida has been a leader in giving citizens immunity in cases of self-defense, with its “stand […]

Shannon NickinsonFebruary 4, 2014

It ought to be enough. The Florida legal system is in the limelight again this week with the trial of Michael David Dunn, 47, in the shooting death of Jordan Davis, 17. Davis was one of four teens in a Dodge Durango at a Jacksonville-area convenience store where Dunn and his fiancee had stopped. Dunn, […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 15, 2014

As is usually the case in these incidents, the fatal shooting of a man at a movie theater in suburban Tampa this week involved way too many “shouldn’t haves.” Press reports based on police statements and witness interviews sketch the following scenario. Chad Oulson and his wife were sitting in a row in front of […]

Tag: Chad Oulson

Joe Henderson: ‘Stand Your Ground’ lacks common sense, legalizes lethal impulse

State could flip burden of proving ‘Stand Your Ground’

Shannon Nickinson: ‘Thug music’ shooting is more evidence that reform needed

Cary McMullen: He shouldn’t have had a gun in a movie theater