13. South Carolina Says “Stand Your Ground” Law Doesn’t Apply to Abused Women

The author begins this article by explaining South Carolina's "stand your ground" law that can help someone get immunity from prosecution if they claim that they killed another person in self-defense. However, ,many cases have shown that this law in unfairly applied. Prosecutors have been trying to argue thata woman's right to 'stand her ground' in a case of domestic abuse is less that if a man 'stands his ground' in a fight with a random stranger. She uses the example of Whitlee Jones who killed her boyfriend Eric Lee. One of the neighbors had called the cops to report Lee for assaulting Jones when they saw Lee pulling a screaming Jones inside the house by her hair. Hours before the cops showed up, Lee stabbed him and fled. The prosecutors do not believe that 'stand your ground' law should be applied to Lee or any domestic situations. They didn'y say anything, however, when a man killed an innocent bystander when he was pointing his gun at what he called 'women thugs.' The author says that this implies that one person has more 'right' to protect themselves than someone else. She does admit that this law can bring a lot of problems, but if South Carolina insists on having them, they must atleast be applied evenly and correctly.
The purpose of Amanda Marcotte's article is to explain how unfair South Carolina's 'stand your ground' law is. In the beginning she explains that this law can bring a lot of problems because it makes it easier for violent people, male or female, to provoke arguments and not worry about consequences. Having said this, she proceeds to explain how this has affected women. She includes reports of women who have been charged of murder for 'self-defense' even though this law exists. Marcotte includes a more detailed example of Eric Lee and Whitlee Jones. She also provides statistics about women suffering from domestic abuse, which gives her credibility. At the end she adds that although this law is not completely correct, it shouldn't mean that men confronting strangers have more rights than women facing the dangers of domestic violence. The language of this article is more complex, indicating an older audience.