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'Stand Your Ground' Task Force Holds First Public Hearing

BayNews 9

The 19 member task force, set up by the governor in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, held a day-long public hearing in Longwood to discuss the Stand Your Ground Law.

Neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old Martin. Zimmerman was not immediately arrested because he claimed immunity under stand your ground.

Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton attended the hearing as heard on Bay News 9. She asked for the law to be amended.

"My 17-year-old son was unarmed," she said, "he had a bag of candy and a can of ice tea. He was not harming anyone, he was not committing any crime, and I just don't understand how this law was passed under these grounds." 

Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll is leading the task force and she said it will not focus exclusively on the Zimmerman-Martin case. The task force plans to finish its review of stand your ground by March 2013.

"I didn't want the task force to be a trial of the Zimmerman-Martin case," said Carroll. "This task force has to look at public safety and citizens' rights: Has it been fairly administered across the board? Do we need to fine-tune it, make some changes?"

The task force can decide to reform or repeal the law. 

 

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