'Stand Your Ground' laws are linked to an increase in U.S. homicides, study says

'Stand Your Ground' laws are linked to an increase in U.S. homicides, study says

Transcript¹

Trayvon Martin was killed a decade ago. The man who shot him used Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law as a successful defense². Critics say those laws are being abused and leading to more deaths.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Tomorrow marks 10 years since 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. The case surrounding his death centered around the controversial Stand Your Ground law, and new research says that law may have led to hundreds more homicides in the country. Here's NPR's Cheryl Corley.

CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE³: Florida passed the first Stand Your Ground law in 2005. Several states followed suit. But it wasn't until 2012, after Trayvon Martin's death, that the law spurred a national hotbed of debate. That's when George Zimmerman, a Neighborhood Watch volunteer, followed the 17-year-old as he was walking from a store to his father's house. There was a confrontation⁴. Zimmerman was acquitted⁵ of second-degree murder. He said he feared for his life when he shot and killed Martin and claimed it was self-defense. That case drew widespread outrage⁶. Jonathan Simon teaches law at UC Berkeley. He says, generally, Stand Your Ground laws remove any duty to retreat first if a person feels threatened. He says their passage was a big cultural shift.

JONATHAN SIMON: Saying we approve of lethal⁷ violence. We think that, you know, you need to be more ready to use it on the spot.

CORLEY: Michelle Degli Esposti, an Oxford⁸ University researcher, began tracking the impact of the Florida law early on. She's a co-author of a study published this week in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. It links Stand Your Ground legislation to an increase in homicides in the country.

MICHELLE DEGLI ESPOSTI: These laws are leading to unnecessary loss of lives, to around 700 extra homicides in the U.S. each year.

CORLEY: The study specifically looks at 23 states that enacted⁹ Stand Your Ground laws by 2016. Increases in homicides varied¹⁰ by geographic¹¹ regions.

DEGLI ESPOSTI: So we saw bigger effects in the Southeast - so this is Florida, Alabama, Louisiana. And they went into double figures - so 20 to 30% increases.

CORLEY: Ohio is one of the latest states to pass the legislation. Dean Rieck, executive director of Buckeye Firearms Association, says the Ohio provision simply clarifies what a person who fears for their life can do without worrying about the law.

DEAN RIECK: We're not trying to empower criminals, and we're not trying to, you know, increase homicides or encourage vigilantism or anything like that.

CORLEY: Efforts to repeal¹² Stand Your Ground laws in Florida and other states have failed so far.

Cheryl Corley, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

5 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

6 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

7 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

8 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

9 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

10 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

11 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

12 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。