Deadly Force and Public Reason

The 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black youth, by George Zimmerman raises serious questions about the legitimacy of Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws. The case also implicates our prevailing community norms with respect to racial justice. The works of Patricia J. Williams, John Rawls, Charles Mills, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are critically engaged. The temporal coincidence of vigilantism and neoliberal austerity budget cuts is explored, with reference to the international human rights law framework and the State duty to respect and promote the right to life. The hypocrisy of Florida, as it simultaneously promotes inegalitarian social structures while claiming to stop short of endorsing vigilante violence, is underlined.