A Florida lawmaker is attempting to curb the media’s access to ‘Stand Your Ground’ court records after a local newspaper review examined hundreds of cases and found that the controversial law is applied unevenly and with unpredictable results.

Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican representing Fort Walton Beach, proposed an amendment to a state bill that would greatly limit the public’s ability to view records from self-defense cases.

Stand Your Ground is an increasingly popular defense used in a number of US states that, depending on the location, permits an individual to use lethal force in a situation where they think their life is at risk. Such laws have come under greater scrutiny since George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, a teenager who Zimmerman maintained attacked him in a Florida neighborhood.

A number of controversial cases have followed, with the Tampa Bay Times analyzing 200 cases in Florida and finding that the shooters went unpunished 113 (68 percent) times. In 135 cases, the victim was unarmed, while the accused was armed in 121 cases.

“The number of cases is increasing, largely because defense attorneys are using ‘stand your ground’ in ways state legislators never envisioned,” the Times explained in the study. “The defense has been invoked in dozens of cases with minor or no injuries. The defense has been used in a wide assortment of cases, including by a self-described ‘vampire’ in Pinellas County, a Miami man arrested with a single marijuana cigarette, a Fort Myers homeowner who shot a bear and a West palm Beach jogger who beat a Jack Russell terrier.”

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{Posted by The NON-Conformist}