What are stand your ground laws?
Stand your ground laws are provisions under self defense laws that justify the use of deadly force under imminent threat of harm regardless of whether a safe retreat is possible. A majority of states in the U.S. are stand your ground states. Professor Kimberly Ferzan of the University of Pennsylvania Law School explains the nuances of stand-your-ground provisions and how they relate to other self defense doctrines.
A common misconception about stand your ground laws is that they justify escalation to deadly force under any circumstances when someone is attacked. According to Prof. Ferzan, the principles of necessity and proportionality under self-defense laws are unchanged by stand your ground provisions. In legitimate self defense, the force used must be proportionate to the attack. For example, if an unarmed child is attacking a man, the man cannot use deadly force in self defense regardless of the jurisdiction’s stand your ground law. Similarly, if the threat is not imminent, force is not justified.
While an increasing number of states have legislated stand your ground provisions in recent years, a minority of states still impose a duty to retreat. Even among those states, however, many do not require retreat in the home (known as the castle doctrine). Generally, a duty to retreat arises (1) when a person is attacked outside the home, (2) before resorting to deadly force, and (3) when retreat is possible to do safely.
