This past Father’s Day, Trayvon Martin’s father appeared in a commercial against something called “Stand Your Ground Laws.”   He begged the onlookers to make more people enjoy future Father’s Days by writing to governors to repeal these laws.  Which states have them?  In alphabetical order they are: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia.

What is a stand-your-ground law?  It is a law adopted by many states that a person may use force, even deadly force, in self-defense when there is reasonable belief of a threat, without an obligation to retreat first. In some cases, a person may even use deadly force in public areas without a duty to retreat.

This legal principle is certainly not new in this country.  As early as 1921, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. declared in Brown v. United States created the following maxim, “detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife.”

Our question is what does Jewish law say about the matter?  Should a person be permitted to kill another, even a criminal, if there is an alternative approach to handle the problem?  If not, is there a difference between in one’s own home and elsewhere?

The Rambam in Hilchos Malachim 9:4 writes that if a pursuer is chasing a descendent of Noach and that pursued one has an alternative option of removing the threat it is forbidden for him to kill the pursuer.

If, of course, there is a question as to whether or not this will work and there is danger to his own life, then one must protect one’s own life.

It would seem that this ruling of the Rambam applies to our question concerning Stand Your Ground Laws.  The rationale for the prohibition is provided in the Talmud with the expression, “Why is your blood any redder than his?”

The entire chapter nine in the Mishna Torah provides more insight into this very contemporary legal argument.  The alternative choices are to either, confuse him with words, hurt one of his limbs, or even leave the confrontation.

If, however, the person is robbing him, there is no obligation to leave and lose one’s money.  There is an obligation though to minimize wat one must do to the pursuer.  If one can get demonstrably get away without killing him then one is obliged to do so.  The same is true with hurting him.  Indeed, if one could have avoided the confrontation and one didn’t, then generally speaking there is no exemption and he would be liable for charges of murder according to the Rambam!

Is there a distinction in one’s own home?  Since someone who has broken into one’s own home is generally after money, there is no obligation to leave him the money in order to avoid killing him.  Therefore, there may be an exception in regard to one’s own home and where the pursuer is after money.  Otherwise, the Stand Your Ground Laws would be wrong.

But what about the fact that these “Stand Your Ground” laws may help society and even reduce crime?  John Lott, in his third edition of More Guns, Less Crime (University of Chicago Press, 2010), states that research shows that states adopting “Stand Your Ground” laws reduced murder rates by 9 percent and overall violent crime by 11 percent.  He writes that this is even after accounting for a range of other factors such as national crime trends, law enforcement variables (arrest, execution, and imprisonment rates), income and poverty measures (poverty and unemployment rates, per capita real income, as well as income maintenance, retirement, and unemployment payments), demographic changes (broken down by race, gender and age), and the national average changes in crime rates from year-to-year and average differences across states.

Indeed, Florida state representative Dennis Baxley, an author of the Florida law, notes that crime rates in Florida dropped significantly between 2005, when the law was passed, and 2012.

It would seem to this author that even though these statistics may be true, it may be (pun impending) a bit of overkill in terms of legislation.  If, for example, we were to impose the death penalty for drunk driving, even when one has not killed anyone, it is most certain that the deaths of innocent victims of drunk drivers would be substantially reduced.  Nonetheless, it would be very wrong to impose such a draconian penalty — it would be overkill.

By the same reasoning, it would seem that the Stand Your Ground laws are overkill too and do not fit in accordance with the Rambam.

Are there other RIshonim that disagree with the Rambam?  While there sre various opinions regarding tangential issues, the main argument of the Rambam is based on indisputable Talmudic texts that are fully recognized.  There is no disagreement among the RIshonim here.

So what should George Zimmerman have done?

Initially, he most certainly should have listened to the 911 operator and have waited for the police before confronting Trayvon Martin.

What should the courts be ruling here, assuming the basic facts of the case?  That is a topic for a future article.

The author may be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com

2 COMMENTS

  1. According to the rambam hilchos shabos perek lamed halocho tes vov.
    השבת ועבודת כוכבים ומזלות כל אחת משתיהן שקולה כנגד שאר כל מצות התורה. והשבת היא האות שבין הקב”ה ובינינו לעולם. לפיכך כל העובר על שאר המצות הרי הוא בכלל רשעי ישראל. אבל המחלל שבת בפרהסיא הרי הוא כעובד עבודת כוכבים ומזלות ושניהם כעובדי כוכבים ומזלות לכל דבריהם.
    All halochos of the torah apply only to Jews that are shomer shabos.

  2. Rambam seams to agree fully with “stand your ground law”.

    הבא במחתרת נדון על שם סופו היה בא כו’: וכן הבא במחתרת ידוע הוא שכונתו שאם יעמוד בעל הבית להציל ממונו מידו שיהרגנו ולפיכך מותר להרגו ואין הפרש בין שבא במחתרת או בדרך החצר ודרך גג ודרך קרפף אבל דבר…
    (Rambam on Mishnah Sanhedrin 8:6)

    Please check your sources before passing your mediocre opinion by calling it an “overkill”. You missrepresenting Torah’s clear value for life and self defense.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here