Abstract
Since the February 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin and other recent high-profile criminal cases, “Stand Your Ground” (“SYG”) laws in the United States have come under intense scrutiny. Florida is ground zero for the controversy. SYG laws expand the “Castle Doctrine” — a common law doctrine by which deadly force may be used in self-defense or to prevent a forcible felony when one is in the safety of one’s home — to include public places outside the home. Thus, SYG laws remove the classic common law duty to retreat in public spaces, while extending immunity from prosecution or civil suit for the use of deadly force in self-defense beyond the home. Florida’s SYG law is especially broad in this respect.