Soto-Ramos did what any of us were likely to do. He protected the lives of himself and the people he cared about. He put down the threat and defended the lives of his friends.
But because he didn’t try to get away first–something he may not have even realized was possible, much less required–his live has been destroyed.
While Stand Your Ground laws are controversial, they’re also incredibly important. The controversy comes from people not understanding what the law actually means and what it doesn’t. People think it’s a license to kill when really all it does is keep people from getting prosecuted for defending themselves. Removing a duty to retreat from an altercation means no one is going to second-guess you after the fact.
This is important because stuff like that does happen.
In fact, a man in Arkansas was just sentenced because he shot someone before the state had a Stand Your Ground law on the books.
By Tom Knighton
