Professor Paula Johnson, Director of the Cold Case Justice Initiative, discussed the proliferation of Stand Your Ground laws in response to the shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl in Kansas City, MO.
“One of the reasons why these laws are proliferating is because they have expanded the areas in which traditional self-defense laws would have other requirements,” says Johnson, citing the Trayvon Martin case as an example.
Professor Johnson also makes a direct connection between barriers to voting and public policy that hurts minorities and people of color.