Stephen Nakatani[/caption]Over the weekend people across the nation were following the verdict of the Trayvon Martin v. Zimmerman case. This weekend was also the screening of the documentary Fruitvale Station so the issues of violence, guns and race were on many peoples minds as protests were held throughout the nation. Regardless of where you fall in your belief of what the verdict should have been, the conversation around what this means and why it occurred needs to be discussed on a level of what can be done in our daily lives to lessen these casualties.
While New York state does not have a Stand Your Ground law (Castle Doctrine), it is important that we understand these laws and how they impact Americans overall. Of course, we don't live in a silo in New York so many of our residents travel to states that do have these laws on their books.
Stand Your Ground states:
| Alabama | Kentucky | New Hampshire | Tennessee |
| Alaska | Louisiana | North Dakota | Texas |
| Arizona | Maine | Ohio | Utah |
| California | Massachusetts | Oklahoma | West Virginia |
| Florida | Michigan | Pennsylvania | Wisconsin |
| Georgia | Mississippi | Rhode Island | Wyoming |
| Indiana | Missouri | South Carolina | Kansas |
| Iowa | Montana | South Dakota |
Iowa, Virginia and Washington have similar in-house laws.
What to do if you're stopped by the police - The Door's Legal Services put together this great resource
The Bronx Defenders has a great post on Know Your Rights: Police Encounters & Misconduct
New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has an app with Know Your Rights information regarding police stops - check it out