No duty to retreat and supposed racial disparities
The US Commission on Civil Rights contends they exist, but Commissioner Gail Heriot takes that apart.
“This report should not have been published in this form. When the results of an empirical study don’t come out the way Commission members hoped and expected that they would, the right thing to do is usually to publish those results anyway. Why hide useful information?
Instead, the Commission sat on the report for years. Then it decided to discard the draft written by our staff and publish instead a transcript of the witness testimony received at our briefing that took place on October 17, 2014 in Orlando, Florida (along with Commissioner Statements like this one). In that way, the staff’s empirical findings could be buried forever.
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Yes, it is true that a disproportionate number of those killed in Florida in cases in which, correctly or incorrectly, the “Stand Your Ground” law has been invoked were African American. But it is also true that a similarly disproportionate number of those for whom that law has been invoked were African American.