Attorney General Eric Holder Condemns 'Stand Your Ground' Laws

Expressing concern over the result of the Trayvon Martin shooting case, Attorney General Eric Holder strongly condemned "stand your ground" laws in the country during his keynote address at the annual National Association for the Advancement of Colored People convention.

Holder said that such measures senselessly expand the concept of self-defense, and that continuous implementation of stand-your-ground laws only encourages the escalation of more violent situations in the future.

The stand-your-ground law, which states that a person who feels threatened can defend himself using deadly force, and does not require retreating for safety, has been a subject of public debate after the result of Trayvon Martin trial.

"Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation's attention, it's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods. These laws try to fix something that was never broken. There has always been legal defenses for using deadly force if - and the 'if' is important - no safe retreat is available," Holder said.

"The list of resulting tragedies is long and - unfortunately - has victimized too many who are innocent. It is our collective obligation - we must stand our ground - to ensure that our laws reduce violence, and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent," said Holder, who earned cheers from the delegates of the annual NAACP convention.

Zimmerman, who is a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida, was acquitted of second-degree murder charges on Saturday despite shooting and killing the unarmed 17-year-old in Sanford last year.

Although Zimmerman's lawyers did not use the stand-your-ground law as part of their argument, the controversial law seemingly played a role in the jury's decision. 

According to a Salt Lake Tribune Report, Judge Debra Nelson inserted the provision, saying that the stand-your-ground law is a legitimate defense because Zimmerman had no duty to retreat and stand his ground when the incident happened.

The judge also added that had the defense used the stand-your-ground provision and proved that Zimmerman acted in self-defense, the case could have been dismissed immediately without the need of having a jury decide on the case.

After the fatal shooting on February 2012, Zimmerman was initially not arrested by police after claiming that Martin was beating him up, and that he had to shoot the teen because he feared he would be killed.