Florida Senator David Simmons, who helped craft the state’s Stand Your Ground law, is defending the legislation against critics like Attorney General Eric Holder.
The controversial law has come under the spotlight again following last Saturday's acquittal of George Zimmerman on second degree murder charges for shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. But Senator Simmons says that criticism is misguided.
Attorney General Eric Holder told the NAACP annual convention in Orlando this week that it’s time to question laws which he said quote senselessly expand the concept self defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods.”
Republican State Senator David Simmons, of Altamonte Springs, helped write Florida’s stand your ground law, which was enacted in 2005. He says he’s surprised the Attorney General’s taking aim at the state law.
“He’s just mistaken", said Simmons. "The United State’s Supreme Court in 1921 adopted stand your ground as the law in the federal courts in criminal prosecutions.”
Simmons says it’s also a mistake to talk about Stand Your Ground in reference to George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict, since it wasn't brought up by attorneys during the trial.
Civil rights leaders like Al Sharpton are also calling for the repeal of Stand Your Ground, but Senator Simmons says he thinks that’s unlikely to happen.