The American Bar Association's (ABA's) adoption of a resolution opposing so-called Stand Your Ground laws represents a "major triumph" for the legal community and the country at large, according to psychologist James M. Jones, PhD.
Jones, a professor of psychological and brain sciences and of black American studies at the University of Delaware, had a stake in the victory. An expert who has written extensively on the psychology of prejudice and racism, he is the only psychologist appointed to the ABA's National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws, which wrote the resolution.
"Passage of the resolution clearly establishes that the weight of the legal community is squarely against stand your ground laws and provides compelling evidence why," Jones says. The ABA convened the task force in early 2013 to collect data and analyze Stand Your Ground laws. Two issues the task force scrutinized are how the laws intersect with racial bias and whether their enforcement balances the rights of the accused with those of a victim.
"What we know from our research is that there is a lot of racial and ethnic bias in the judgment of threats," Jones explains. "So it's important for us to show inherent bias in laws that use such a subjective criterion for self-defense."
Miami attorney Leigh-Ann Buchanan, who co-chaired the ABA task force, says she hopes the new policy will help law enforcement agencies and governments "make a more reasoned and learned response" when they examine existing or proposed stand your ground laws.
Debate about Stand Your Ground laws hit a fever pitch after the 2012 shooting death of black Florida teen Trayvon Martin. The laws allow anyone who feels a potentially lethal attack is at hand in a public place to respond with deadly force.
APA CEO Norman B. Anderson, PhD, says Jones's appointment to the task force offered an important opportunity for psychology to be at the table in the evaluation of Stand Your Ground laws.
"There is a growing body of psychological research on how stereotypical thinking and implicit bias affect people's interactions with one another, and this research, among other findings in psychology, is very relevant to the task force's work," Anderson says.
A report from the ABA task force released last year indicated that 33 states have Stand Your Ground laws. Data the task force reviewed showed that the laws aren't consistently applied, which has resulted in racial disparities.
"If you have a black perpetrator with a white victim, the chances of getting a conviction are much greater than in the reverse situation," says Jack Middleton, a Manchester, New Hampshire, attorney who co-chaired the task force with Buchanan.
Even though some proponents say the laws will deter crime, the task force reported that theft, burglary and assaults haven't decreased, but homicides have increased in states with Stand Your Ground laws.
"The laws don't do what they promised — they actually result in deadly crime," Buchanan says.
In addition to urging federal, state, local and territorial legislatures to repeal existing Stand Your Ground laws and refrain from enacting new ones, the ABA has plans to launch a national educational campaign intended to correct misperceptions that the laws provide blanket justification to use deadly force in public spaces.
Going forward, Buchanan said the bar association also hopes to develop training materials for law enforcement agencies. "Implicit bias information will be incorporated," she notes. "This is one area where Dr. Jones and other psychologists can really add value to the ABA's work. Often, the issues go beyond the confines of the legal profession."
— Rebecca Voelker
