Politics & Government
Mosby: Florida Business Boycott Due to Stand Your Ground's 'Subjective Nature'
The councilman said at Monday's city council meeting that the "Stand Your Ground" law is applied ambiguously across 26 states.
By Sonia Su
Councilman Nick Mosby's resolution calling on the city to review doing business with Florida firms due to the state's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law will be given a committee hearing like its sponsor wanted.
The resolution encourages the city to review doing business with firms in that state, not because Mosby wants to see the law abolished, but rather to consider the "the subjective nature in which it's been applied in the state of Florida," Mosby told Patch.
The resolution, according to the meeting agenda, calls for:
Divestment from the State of Florida FOR the purpose of requesting that the City of Baltimore review and minimize it's business dealings connected with the State of Florida, and municipalities in Florida, in protest of that state's "Stand Your Ground" law and its application of that law.
The bill was assigned to the Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee, a date for the hearing has not been set.
The resolution comes just weeks after a Florida jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of killing 17-year-old Trayon Martin. Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, who was black, after reporting him to 911 as a "suspicious person" in February of 2012.
The prosecution argued Zimmerman murdered Martin, while the defense said it was self-defense after the teenager attacked Zimmerman.
"I would never, ever want to see another story like this again in my lifetime, and it relates to no one taking accountability or ownership of what took place," he said.
Although the defense did not specifically use the "Stand Your Ground" law, the judge did provide instructions to the jury mentioning a "right to stand your ground," Mosby said while presenting the resolution.
He said that some jurors used the law one of the bases in making their decision.
"When a 17-year-old, innocent, unarmed young man walking home loses his life, and through due process, no one's held accountable for that particular act, I think that's a fundamental issue," Mosby said.
Baltimore is the first major city with this type of resolution, Mosby said.
"I do not think it's going to affect Baltimore in a negative way. I think that it might show us being in the forefront of such a critical issue," he said. "Right when the verdict was rendered, there was a lot of discussion, a lot of peaceful demonstrations and marches, but at the end of the day, that doesn't necessarily put this on the trajectory that it needs to be, as it relates to the talking points and having real discussions."
The councilman said that he hopes he can have that discussion through the Baltimore City Council.
"I hope the folks in Florida listen and understand where we're coming from. Right now, there's 26 other states that actually have formal 'Stand Your Ground' type of legislation, but unfortunately, 'Stand Your Ground' is used in a very ambiguous way. It means different things in different places," Mosby said.
TELL US: What do you think about Councilman Nick Mosby's resolution?
Councilman Nick Mosby's resolution calling on the city to review doing business with Florida firms due to the state's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law will be given a committee hearing like its sponsor wanted.
The resolution encourages the city to review doing business with firms in that state, not because Mosby wants to see the law abolished, but rather to consider the "the subjective nature in which it's been applied in the state of Florida," Mosby told Patch.
The resolution, according to the meeting agenda, calls for:
Divestment from the State of Florida FOR the purpose of requesting that the City of Baltimore review and minimize it's business dealings connected with the State of Florida, and municipalities in Florida, in protest of that state's "Stand Your Ground" law and its application of that law.
The bill was assigned to the Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee, a date for the hearing has not been set.
The resolution comes just weeks after a Florida jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of killing 17-year-old Trayon Martin. Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, who was black, after reporting him to 911 as a "suspicious person" in February of 2012.
The prosecution argued Zimmerman murdered Martin, while the defense said it was self-defense after the teenager attacked Zimmerman.
"I would never, ever want to see another story like this again in my lifetime, and it relates to no one taking accountability or ownership of what took place," he said.
Although the defense did not specifically use the "Stand Your Ground" law, the judge did provide instructions to the jury mentioning a "right to stand your ground," Mosby said while presenting the resolution.
He said that some jurors used the law one of the bases in making their decision.
"When a 17-year-old, innocent, unarmed young man walking home loses his life, and through due process, no one's held accountable for that particular act, I think that's a fundamental issue," Mosby said.
Baltimore is the first major city with this type of resolution, Mosby said.
"I do not think it's going to affect Baltimore in a negative way. I think that it might show us being in the forefront of such a critical issue," he said. "Right when the verdict was rendered, there was a lot of discussion, a lot of peaceful demonstrations and marches, but at the end of the day, that doesn't necessarily put this on the trajectory that it needs to be, as it relates to the talking points and having real discussions."
The councilman said that he hopes he can have that discussion through the Baltimore City Council.
"I hope the folks in Florida listen and understand where we're coming from. Right now, there's 26 other states that actually have formal 'Stand Your Ground' type of legislation, but unfortunately, 'Stand Your Ground' is used in a very ambiguous way. It means different things in different places," Mosby said.
TELL US: What do you think about Councilman Nick Mosby's resolution?
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here