‘Stand Your Ground On Steroids’ Before Florida Supremes; Flood Of Cases Could Be Reopened

The Florida Supreme Court is reviewing a souped-up version of the controversial “Stand Your Ground’’ law, and the court may use it to reopen thousands of criminal cases.

But while Florida prosecutors and gun-control activists are challenging the self-defense law’s bona fides, saying it’s unconstitutional, the justices probably won’t rule on that basic issue in Tashara Love v. State.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, for one, doesn’t want them to. Lawyers who work for her argue the NRA-backed law is constitutional, but it doesn’t apply to Love or others whose cases were pending on June 9, 2017, the effective date of the updated law, just to cases filed afterwards.

The state’s top law enforcer is supposed to defend state laws, as Bondi’s team is doing. Still, it’s bizarre to see prosecutors on one side, and the Attorney General’s Office on the other, said Adam Skaggs, chief counsel at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.