Republicans cheering, Democrats jeering as DeWine signs ‘Stand Your Ground’ into law

by Clay Boeninger

State Sen. Tim Schaffer, a Republican, gives a speech on the floor of the Ohio Senate floor. Schaffer was the primary sponsor of SB 175. Photo Credit: The Ohio Senate

Governor Mike DeWine recently signed Senate Bill 175 into law, eliminating Ohioans’ “duty to retreat” before using deadly force in defense of themselves or another.

The so-called Stand Your Ground language in SB 175 revises the already existing law based on the “Castle Doctrine.” The previous law stated that Ohioans had no duty to retreat from a threat to their life if they were in their own home or vehicle.

Now, the legislation says Ohioans have no duty to retreat so long as they are “in a place in which the person lawfully has the right to be.”

Although SB 175 passed the House and Senate handily, the vote was almost completely partisan. Only one Republican member of the Senate, Sen. Stephen Hambley, voted against SB 175.

Republicans otherwise expressed gratitude that DeWine signed SB 175. “We are proud of the Governor’s decision to sign Senate Bill 175,” said Sen. Tim Schaffer, the Republican who sponsored the bill. “This legislation will advance important protections for churches, synagogues, mosques, and all other charitable organizations in our state,” Schaffer added.

While Republicans and gun-rights advocates praised DeWine for signing this law, Democrats and gun control proponents cast disgust and disappointment towards DeWine for enacting the law.

Joe Mallory, the president of the Cincinnati NAACP, is “strongly opposed” to Stand Your Ground legislation, believing that it will lead to and justify the killing of innocent Black people. Photo Credit: Cincinnati Enquirer

Joe Mallory, the president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP, said, “Stand Your Ground legislation will justify the murder of innocent people, particularly innocent Black people.”

Schaffer rejected the notion that SB 175 would overwhelmingly harm people of color. “The U.S. Bill of Rights is colorblind,” said Schaffer. “Anything that preserves or enhances our Second Amendment rights is good for all of us.”

This sentiment did not do much to quell House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes’ (D-Akron) worries. Sykes said, “Only cowards would pass and sign a bill that has been proven to disproportionately harm Black people.”

In fact, a report from John Roman at the Urban Institute, a research group focused on finding data-based solutions to societal and political problems, found that homicides increased by eight percent when Stand Your Ground legislation was implemented.

Roman did note that it is not plausible to prove that Stand Your Ground laws contributed to racism-fueled homicides of Black people by white perpetrators. “Distinguishing racial animus within racial disparities is exceedingly difficult with existing datasets that do not include such key measures as setting and context,” Roman said in his report.

However, Roman was able to accurately identify vast disparities that occur in the criminal justice system when Stand Your Ground laws are in effect. For instance, when such cases were taken to court in Florida, the chances that a white-on-Black killing was ruled justifiable were 281% higher than the chances that a white-on-white killing would be found justifiable.

Moreover, Roman found that when cases have similar fact patterns to that of the Trayvon Martin case (single victim and shooter, individuals involved were strangers and male, and a firearm was involved) the odds that a white-on-Black homicide was justified were 33 percentage points greater than the chances that a Black-on-white homicide was justified.

Ultimately, DeWine signed SB 175 into law, making Ohio the 28th state to adopt Stand Your Ground legislation. DeWine was not entirely satisfied with the bill, but he thought it needed to be passed and enacted anyway so that Ohioans “have the right to legally protect themselves when confronted with a life-threatening situation.”