Knimrod
05-20-2006, 12:23 AM
Fatal Error
State senate should shun shoot-first bills
May 19, 2006
Detroit Free Press
The state Senate Judiciary Committee ignored the voice of prosecutors, and reason, and approved a package of bills that would essentially sanction fatal shootings of intruders into homes or occupied vehicles.
These bills are not only dangerous but unnecessary. Courts have already given broad latitude to people defending themselves in their homes or vehicles. Citizens legally possessing a gun have the right to self-defense, including the use of deadly force, if they have an honest and reasonable belief that they're in danger of death, serious injury or sexual assault. That right is maintained even if the belief turns out to be wrong.
But exempting fatal shootings from prosecution and even civil actions is unreasonable. Prosecutors must be able to examine fatal shootings on a case-by-case basis. Shooting a mentally ill homeless woman who's banging on a window and attempting to enter a car, for example, is different than shooting an armed burglar breaking into a home. They ought to be judged differently, too.
Equally troubling, the bills could increase violence by fostering a shoot-first-and-answer-no-questions-later attitude. They could, at least potentially, provide a legal shield for murder if shooters invited the victims to their homes, shot them and then claimed the victims were illegally trying to enter.
These bills obviously have emotional support, but their proponents have failed to provide any hard evidence that they're necessary to protect the public.
Laws should discourage, not encourage, violent confrontations, Ronald Frantz, president of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, has said. This week he told legislators that "it's bad public policy to say deadly force can't be scrutinized."
State senators should listen to him and kill these bills.
Link to article (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060519/OPINION01/605190345/1069)
State senate should shun shoot-first bills
May 19, 2006
Detroit Free Press
The state Senate Judiciary Committee ignored the voice of prosecutors, and reason, and approved a package of bills that would essentially sanction fatal shootings of intruders into homes or occupied vehicles.
These bills are not only dangerous but unnecessary. Courts have already given broad latitude to people defending themselves in their homes or vehicles. Citizens legally possessing a gun have the right to self-defense, including the use of deadly force, if they have an honest and reasonable belief that they're in danger of death, serious injury or sexual assault. That right is maintained even if the belief turns out to be wrong.
But exempting fatal shootings from prosecution and even civil actions is unreasonable. Prosecutors must be able to examine fatal shootings on a case-by-case basis. Shooting a mentally ill homeless woman who's banging on a window and attempting to enter a car, for example, is different than shooting an armed burglar breaking into a home. They ought to be judged differently, too.
Equally troubling, the bills could increase violence by fostering a shoot-first-and-answer-no-questions-later attitude. They could, at least potentially, provide a legal shield for murder if shooters invited the victims to their homes, shot them and then claimed the victims were illegally trying to enter.
These bills obviously have emotional support, but their proponents have failed to provide any hard evidence that they're necessary to protect the public.
Laws should discourage, not encourage, violent confrontations, Ronald Frantz, president of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, has said. This week he told legislators that "it's bad public policy to say deadly force can't be scrutinized."
State senators should listen to him and kill these bills.
Link to article (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060519/OPINION01/605190345/1069)