Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

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 […]

Scott PowersFebruary 9, 2017

A Florida Senate committee overwhelmingly approved the latest attempt to expand the state’s Stand Your Ground self-defense law. On Thursday, the Senate Rules Committee passed the measure after advocates said it would stop unnecessary prosecutions. Opponents alleged it would stop a lot of necessary prosecutions, as well. Senate Bill 128 would allow gun defendants to […]

Associated PressJanuary 28, 2016

The Florida Senate has passed a bill that would expand the state’s “stand your ground” law to place more burden on prosecutors to prove self-defense wasn’t a factor when charging someone with assaulting or killing another person. The Senate voted 24-12 for the bill on Thursday. If the bill becomes law, the state would have […]

Brendan FarringtonNovember 18, 2015

A bill that would force prosecutors to prove self-defense wasn’t a factor before bringing someone using a “stand your ground” defense to trial advanced in the Senate on Wednesday despite a similar House bill being killed the day before. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal Justice approved the bill on a 5-1 vote. But its […]

Ryan RaySeptember 15, 2015

Rep. Dennis Baxley – father of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law – filed a bill Tuesday that would tweak the state’s self-defense statutes. Baxley’s newly-filed HB 169 is designed to enhance the legal standing of defendants who claim they acted in self-defense while using or threatening to use deadly force in a dispute. The bill would shift the legal burden […]

Tag: self-defense

State could flip burden of proving ‘Stand Your Ground’

Senate Rules Committee stands its ground on Stand Your Ground

Senate passes “stand your ground” expansion, gun bills

Senate advancing bill to change “stand your ground” law

Dennis Baxley files bill to aid self-defense claimants