Regarding the Trayvon Martin case that took place in Sanford, Florida, which became a worldwide topic, AP News (March 26) quoted Ben Jealous, head of the NAACP in “Meet the Press” saying;
“Florida’s Stand-Your-Ground law does not apply in this case. The Sanford Police Department misconstrued the Stand-Your-Ground law.”
jargondatabase.com defines Stand-Your-Ground law as;
A law which places no obligation on a potential victim of crime to retreat and call police. The potential victim is instead allowed to respond to force with force even if flight is a possibility.
Considering tongue-biting scrupulousness of legal terms in general, “Stand-Your-Ground” law sounds very colloquial to me as though a nickname to something.
Is it an orthodox or acknowledged legal term? If not, what is the orthodox nomenclature used in court?
How different is it from "self-defense"? What is meant by the word, “Stand-Your-Ground”, and what is the origin of this word?
Addendum: I found the following statement in the NYT article titled ‘Fugitive Slave Mentality’ (March, 27)
Before he temporarily stepped down from his position last week as chief of the Sanford, Fla., police department, Bill Lee Jr., gave an explanation of his decision not to arrest George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin. Lee said he had no reason to doubt Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense.
This tempts me to think “Stand-your ground” analogous to self-defense.
Best Answer
Daniel's answer is good but I disagree a little about it being an "official and legal term". You won't open up a law book and find a section titled "Stand Your Ground Law". It's a legalese phrase that folks use to describe an actual law in terms that the average person will understand. The actual law may or may not use the words "stand your ground" in the legal text.
For example, Alabama's "Stand Your Ground" law is officially Code Alabama Code 13A-3-23(b) and does use that specific phrase:
Kentucky's Revised Statute 503.080 uses different wording, but would still be considered a "Stand Your Ground" law: