What is the duty to retreat?

A minority of states in the U.S. impose a duty to retreat under self-defense laws. If an individual fails to retreat from a confrontation in which it is possible to do so safely, they lose the right to use deadly force for self-defense. Professor Kimberly Ferzan of the University of Pennsylvania Law School first discusses the duty to retreat vis-a-vis non-lethal force and within one's home and the doctrinal origin of the duty. Professor Ferzan then explores under what circumstances the duty to retreat may apply in some states.

 

 

  Kimberly Ferzan is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law Shool. Her research focuses on criminal law theory.