Florida Governor Rick Scott has just made it easier for Floridians to legally murder each other.
Governor Gollum signed a bill that bolsters "stand your ground" defense, shifting the burden of proof to prosecutors.
Florida Governor Rick Scott signed amended "stand your ground" legislation on Friday, making it easier for defendants in the state to successfully claim they were protecting themselves when they commit violence.
Previously, the law required defendants to prove that they were using force in self-defense. The new law shifts the burden of proof in pretrial hearings to prosecutors, rather than defendants, to prove whether force was used lawfully.
Whereas defendants were previously required to prove that they acted in self-defense and out of fear for their own life, they will no longer have to prove anything. The onus will be placed exclusively on prosecutors to convince a judge or jury that defendants did not act in self-defense which, obviously, could be extremely difficult or even impossible in some cases. I imagine it would be especially difficult to prove otherwise when there are no witnesses.
I wonder just how far conservative lawmakers are willing to take this. What would it take for them to back down? I would ask if a lawmaker being gunned down under a "stand your ground" defense would make any difference, but I really don't think it would; especially not if it's a Democratic lawmaker.
Unlike average people, cowardly politicians can always rely on law enforcement to protect them from the lunatics they enable with this kind of legislation.