Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Castle Doctrine and a Sweet Little Old Man
I was watching the news this morning, as I do every morning, though I don't quite know why. So often the television news isn't really news at all. If you are going to use television news as your news source please watch BBC news on PBS. But this is an aside.
This morning on the news was a story about a man in Colorado who was shot. The man who shot him cannot be prosecuted because of something called a "Make My Day" law. In a nutshell, if someone threatens you with harm in your home you can shoot them and you will not be prosecuted.
Here are the details of this case. Neighbor B thinks Neighbor C shot his dog with a pellet gun. B goes to C's home to confront him about this. B is a big guy, he has a stick with him, he breaks a pane of glass on C's glass door, C then takes the shotgun off of his kitchen table and shoots B in the chest. The prosecutor in the town will not prosecute Neighbor C as he was within his rights. B's family is aghast. They think this is a terrible law and are doing everything in their power to have it overturned.
My two contentions with the facts are that Neighbhor B had not yet entered the home of Neighbor C, and why did Neighbor C have a shot gun on his kitchen table? It may have been within his rights to have a shotgun on the table but, that is strange to me.
As to the law. The Make My Day law doesn't sound much different to me than the Castle Doctrine which is an established principle in criminal law. Basically, if someone threatens you in your home you are not required to run and you can shoot them (or basically do whatever you have to to protect yourself). I think this is a great rule. If a robber is in my home, if someone is threatening my child, if someone is threatening me, I want to be able to shoot them. It sounds harsh in this case because Neighbor B was a family man. I wish I knew all of the facts, and I am sure Neighbor C can be prosecuted for something. However, I don't think the rule should be overturned.
Particularly today.
Why?
Because there is a sweet little old man in my building. Running into him could make your day. He has to be at least in his eighties. He is 4'10" with the tiniest hands, the whitest hair and the sweetest smile. He is so small and yet he uses his little bit of strength to hold open doors for the ladies in the building. This weekend he was robbed at knifepoint in my building on the floor we live on. I have not seen him since I got back. I hear that he cannot sleep. I think he has probably left the building.
I want whoever hurt this sweet little old man to suffer. I may not want him to die but, the next time he enters someone's home I wouldn't mind if he got shot a few times.
I was watching the news this morning, as I do every morning, though I don't quite know why. So often the television news isn't really news at all. If you are going to use television news as your news source please watch BBC news on PBS. But this is an aside.
This morning on the news was a story about a man in Colorado who was shot. The man who shot him cannot be prosecuted because of something called a "Make My Day" law. In a nutshell, if someone threatens you with harm in your home you can shoot them and you will not be prosecuted.
Here are the details of this case. Neighbor B thinks Neighbor C shot his dog with a pellet gun. B goes to C's home to confront him about this. B is a big guy, he has a stick with him, he breaks a pane of glass on C's glass door, C then takes the shotgun off of his kitchen table and shoots B in the chest. The prosecutor in the town will not prosecute Neighbor C as he was within his rights. B's family is aghast. They think this is a terrible law and are doing everything in their power to have it overturned.
My two contentions with the facts are that Neighbhor B had not yet entered the home of Neighbor C, and why did Neighbor C have a shot gun on his kitchen table? It may have been within his rights to have a shotgun on the table but, that is strange to me.
As to the law. The Make My Day law doesn't sound much different to me than the Castle Doctrine which is an established principle in criminal law. Basically, if someone threatens you in your home you are not required to run and you can shoot them (or basically do whatever you have to to protect yourself). I think this is a great rule. If a robber is in my home, if someone is threatening my child, if someone is threatening me, I want to be able to shoot them. It sounds harsh in this case because Neighbor B was a family man. I wish I knew all of the facts, and I am sure Neighbor C can be prosecuted for something. However, I don't think the rule should be overturned.
Particularly today.
Why?
Because there is a sweet little old man in my building. Running into him could make your day. He has to be at least in his eighties. He is 4'10" with the tiniest hands, the whitest hair and the sweetest smile. He is so small and yet he uses his little bit of strength to hold open doors for the ladies in the building. This weekend he was robbed at knifepoint in my building on the floor we live on. I have not seen him since I got back. I hear that he cannot sleep. I think he has probably left the building.
I want whoever hurt this sweet little old man to suffer. I may not want him to die but, the next time he enters someone's home I wouldn't mind if he got shot a few times.
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