Yolanda Jackson, Deputy Executive Director and Diversity Director of The Bar Association of San Francisco, provided testimony today to the American Bar Association’s National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws.

This was the task force’s fourth and final public hearing on the issue, held during the 2013 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Jackson’s testimony included an analysis of Stand Your Ground laws, including the following summary of the impact of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law:

Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law was enacted in 2005.  In the six years prior to the enactment of “Stand Your Ground”, Florida experienced an average of 34 justifiable homicides per year for a total of 206 deaths in six years. After its enactment, the annual death rate was approximately 85 justifiable homicides per year.  For the first four years of its enactment, Florida had 333 justifiable homicides.  There was an increase of 127 deaths in the first four years the law was enacted.  The impact of this law has been a very strong statistical increase in the number of deaths.  The increase in justifiable homicides increased 2.8 times, nearly tripling the number of deaths.

Read more of Jackson’s testimony here.

For more information on the ABA National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws, please contact Rachel Patrick, Staff Director, ABA Coalition on Racial & Ethnic Justice, at 312-988-5408.