Yes gotta love it, he is the only governor that has the testicular fortitude to say that, need more like himGotta love the Governor’s statement
When there is a humanitarian crisis like this, and considering that a lot of your looters could be armed, I would say that any criminal or civil lawsuit brought against a case of defense of life and property in a disaster such as this has very little chance of making it through the courts. And, this is Florida, a Stand Your Ground State and Castle Doctrine State. You don't know that all they are going to do is "steal your property", they may have other things in mind.
Legal justification has not changed. Burglary, however, is enumerated as a forcible felony in Florida Statutes and stopping imminent commission of burglary may provide justification for use of deadly force. But as always, just because you can does not mean you should. When I put myself in the position of sitting in the remains of my wrecked home and some Adam Henry comes in to steal what remains of my stuff, I have no sympathy for the burglar who gets shot.
Like I said, I support the sentiment. But my opinions and the law aren't the same thing. Just because you "don't know" whether a looter is armed or not, doesn't automatically provide justifiable cause for lethal force. I'm just pointing out that if you shoot someone for running off with your tv, good luck with the legalities. Unfortunately, that's the world we live in.
I have no sympathy for burglers either. But a "forcible felony" in which it turns out the perp wasn't armed, and was merely running off with your stuff, and hadn't threatened you with lethal force, is going to open you up for a field day against a prosecutor.
I get what you are saying and agree with it, to a point. If they get your stuff and are running away with it, then that isn't justifiable to shoot them. If, however, they come into your home, and don't leave when warned, and you have reasonable fear for your life or the life of your family/loved ones, that is different. DeSantis wasn't giving the green light to shoot at will, the laws governing self defense still stand. But, in a disaster situation such as this, when your home has been breached by storm damage, and someone invades that home, you are well within your rights to stop them. Especially if you have children involved. And that was just a snippet of what he said overall. He also said that "we are a law and order state, and you WILL be prosecuted". The criminal element has been emboldened and encouraged to do their smash and grabs, looting, burning, etc. at will. With NO consequences. He simply stated that it will not be tolerated and WILL be dealt with. Whether by criminal prosecution, or in a self defense situation. If someone were to chase a looter down the street shooting at them for carrying away their latest tech toy tv, that is not and will not be tolerated.
Agreed with all of that. And Florida is both a "Stand Your Ground" state and a "Castle Doctrine" state, both of which can help greatly in providing legal justification.
I don't know what state you are in, but this is Florida. Read Florida Statute Section 776, and 782. Property crimes generally do not justify deadly force. However, The presumption in the law is that you are in fear of death or great bodily harm when someone forcibly enters your occupied dwelling or vehicle and likewise presumes that the person entering intends to commit a crime of violence. Whether the burglar is armed has no bearing. You are also justified in using deadly force to stop a forcible felony, which includes burglary. Also, with any use of force that is determined to be justified under Chapter 776 0r 782 you are immune from civil suit or prosecution. I am not advocating that you shoot someone-doing so will change your life and is a solemn decision. As I have said before, just because you can, does not mean you should. But, I could not imagine a prosecutor filing as charge in Florida on someone who shot someone burglarizing his home, storm wrecked or not.
I'm not disagreeing with anything you are saying, compadre. As I said above, Castle Doctrine covers exactly what you are pointing out as justifiable use of force. I was merely pointing out that people need to know the law, and be judicious in how they apply it, "natural disaster" or not, which seems to be the same thing you are saying. "Looting" is a broad term that can encompass lots of different things - someone forcibly entering your home is a far more specific situation.
And let’s also say I don’t believe there is a prosecutor in any of those counties that have completely destroyed would be prosecuting anyone for protecting what little they have left.
