The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman trial and verdict have raised the visibility of ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws in this country. A panel of experts will provide an overview of these laws and of Ohio’s proposed version at noon Monday, Sept. 9 in the College of Law’s McQuade Law Auditorium.

Toledo Law Professor Jelani Jefferson Exum will moderate the discussion with panelists James Carlisle ’85, Professor Gregory Gilchrist, and Professor Nicole Porter.

“This panel will get beyond the rhetoric and examine how these laws work and what they are really about,” said Daniel Steinbock, dean of the College of Law. “It will allow the community to get the benefit of the kind of faculty expertise our students are exposed to every day.”

House Bill 203 seeks to bring a version of the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law to Ohio. Under current law, a person has no duty to retreat before using deadly force if that person is in their own home or automobile. The proposed legislation tracks Florida’s law and expands the right to use deadly force without a duty to retreat to any place a person has a lawful right to be.

The panel will survey ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws in the United States, analyzing them from legal, historical, and feminist perspectives.

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