In the United States we are proud to say we are the world leader in freedom and justice. We judge other countries because they do not conform to the standards we believe to be correct. However, to the rest of the world, the United States has lately been seen as a barbaric country that still allows medieval treatment and punishment. Some laws in the United States are vague. These laws require certain criteria and the public really doesn't understand how it works or when it applies. A perfect example is the Stand Your Ground law which was extremely controversial. The Stand Your Ground law is a self-defense law. There are various self-defense laws that protect people when they use force to defend themselves. These laws vary in the amount of leeway allowed. Stand your ground, allow people to use force without attempting to retreat, and they are justified. This allows for justifiable homicide when one believes one's life is in danger. This departs from a well-known doctrine, which has been established in common law, known as the castle doctrine and duty to retreat. There are several factors and laws that must be considered to fully understand the Stand you ground law. One concept that must be considered is the duty to retreat. The duty to retreat states that a person who is under imminent threat of harm must first try to retreat or escape from danger before using self-defense against their attacker. The castle doctrine recognizes that individuals have certain protections within their home. Individuals may use force to defend themselves from someone who has entered their home to cause harm. In the academic article “The Answer to Criminal Assault Is Retaliation: Laws That Support Your Position and Liberals… middle of paper… had to wait months for prosecutors' offices to decide he had acted in self-defense way. Many of those who opposed the law feared that this law would allow the public to assure themselves that the use of deadly force would have less severe punishments. In Florida alone, the rate of justifiable homicides tripled five years after the law took effect (Washington Post, 2013). Standing your ground is controversial. However, in many cases where individuals claim self-defense, they are justified under this law. According to the law they are indeed justified. In the case of the Trayvon Martin shooting, although the American public claimed that the shooting was instigated by George Zimmerman and stemmed from Zimmerman's hatred of African Americans, it was justified. He should not have been prosecuted. The only reason he was put on trial was the negative reaction the American people had regarding this case.