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Last month, Michael Dunn was convicted of attempted murder, after firing several rounds into an SUV of young black men. Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old, was killed in the incident. Dunn is 47, and he is white. Dunn invoked the "Stand Your Ground Law" to defend his actions, and the jury was deadlocked on whether to charge him for Davis's murder. He'll face a retrial this summer.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, a correspondent for The Atlantic had this to say on the trial:

A very wise man wrote me the other day and said he would have been happier if Dunn had been convicted of first-degree murder, gotten 15 years, and then was released to try to pick up the pieces of his life. And I think that really gets to the point. This is not about the ruination of white peopleindividual or collective. This is about coping with a heritage of regarding black people as subhuman.

Coates has been one of the foremost voices on issues of race, politics, and the law for the past decade. Tonight, he'll be giving the Robert R. Wilson lecture at Duke University on the topic of racism as a cultural heritage.

Coates sat down to talk with Phoebe Judge a few hours before his talk. They met in the lobby of the Washington Duke Inn, adjacent the school.

"Anywhere you look at domestic policy in this country, you can find it being accomplished, regrettably, on the basis of racism," Coates said. Coates and Judge talked about domestic cotton production, black exclusion from social security, and about redlining in the mid-20th century. "This is our heritage and you can't get away from it."

"The expectation that our citizens will make decisions outside of our heritage, our history, is deeply bizarre."

This idea, that racism is sewed into the very foundation of this country, is what makes decisions like that in the Jordan Davis case so resonant, Coates said.

"The expectation is that you will get a jury of people who will go into a room, and somehow they will exist outside of America. Or that laws will be past outside of America. As if who you are and your history don't affect anything."

Coates hopes people will walk away from his lecture at Duke with a realistic understanding of the country that we live in. He wants to turn the conversation away from the moral failing of African Americans and towards, "the total and utter destruction of white supremacy."

See more here:

On Racism: 'This Is Our Heritage. You Can't Get Away From It' | WUNC

Stand, dont deliver

Not content to accidentally shoot itself in the face while sitting at a bar or attending class, the National Rifle Association managed to push a Trojan Horse of a bill through both the state House and Senate last week that will effectively expand the ridiculous castle-doctrine-turned-shoot-everyone Stand Your Ground law in the state. What was once known as the warning shot bill intended to even the playing field for people like abused Florida wife Marissa Alexander, who is still fighting an extensive prison sentence for shooting a gun into the air as opposed to, say, gunshow enthusiast and jackass hero George Zimmerman, who walks free has now grown to include some festive amendments.

How could such an amazing bill get even better, you might ask? Well, for one, it means that Stand Your Ground remains deeply enshrined in our unfair legal system, and continues to be overused in defense cases Florida has had 237 Stand Your Ground defenses since 2005, according to the Tampa Bay Times, and the majority of those cases are determined to be justified, even in cases where its a child who dies, caught in the crossfire of a drug deal gone bad.

But wait! Theres more! The newly refashioned Stand Your Ground(er) will now make all Stand Your Ground cases secret, especially from the media that loves to talk about how this law is ruining our state. The Dream Defenders the brave folks who held a monthlong sit-in at the Capitol just to get the governors attention on the issue released a statement about the updated legislation on April 4. They are, shall we say, not happy.

As citizens across Florida have demanded the repeal of the Stand Your Ground law, we are disappointed to see that the Florida Legislature has done quite the opposite, said Ciara Taylor, political director for the Dream Defenders. Todays vote shows that our legislators have ignored our calls and have instead chosen to double down on this dangerous law that will continue to claim the lives of innocent, unarmed victims. We will remember the names of those who voted in favor of this law today they will be on the lips of officers who explain to mothers why their children never make it home, in funeral packets of churches all across the South, and, most importantly, in the hands of Florida voters on Election Day in November.

Guns down. Knives out.

>Email Billy Manes

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Florida legislature expands Stand Your Ground

We are living in the Age of Crazy, so when there is a tragedy that takes the life of an innocent, instead of passing laws to make sure that doesn't happen, states are passing laws that ensure it will continue to happen at an accelerated rate.

Nicole Flatow

Attempts to roll back any of the Florida Stand Your Ground laws most incendiary elements have foundered more than two years after the death of Trayvon Martin. But a bill to expand the law passed Thursday, mere months after it was introduced. The National Rifle Association-backed bill would extend Stand Your Ground-like protections to those who point a gun at an attacker or fire a gun as a self-defense threat or warning, expanding the scope of the discretion judges and juries retain to exempt shooters from criminal charges for gun violence. The final bill also includes a provision to keep Stand Your Ground records secret.

The Threatened Use of Force bill passed the Senate Thursday 32-7, and will become law if signed by Gov. Rick Scott (R). The bill initially gained traction after Republicans exploited the outrage over the 20-year prison sentence for Marissa Alexander, who fired a warning shot during an altercation with her abusive husband. The bill was then dubbed the warning shot bill, because a judge rejected Alexanders move to invoke the law. But opponents were quick to point out that injustice in Alexanders case hinged in large part on a draconian mandatory minimum sentence that required the 20-year prison term, insensitivity to domestic violence, and racial disparities that are already baked into the existing Stand Your Ground law.

Rather than protect those like Alexander, the law is likely to expand immunity for violent conduct in as vague and sweeping a manner as Floridas existing Stand Your Ground law, and could represent the newest mechanism for encouraging even more vigilantism.

A new amendment that made its way into the final bill would also make secret all records from Stand Your Ground cases, meaning that the records would be sealed in cases where charges are later dropped, and those who are granted immunity would have their records expunged. But the law also means that media outlets seeking to document the impact of the law would not have access to any records.

Story continues below

Here's a typical defense.

Heck your honor, I was just following my God given right to squeeze of a warning shot at a person who I believed was gonna do me some bodily harm, but my aim was off and I killed him. Why'd he wear that dang-blasted hoodie for anyway?

Conservatives can lie with the best of them and to use Marissa Alexander as their poster child is disgusting since she got caught up in nut-job sentencing guidelines.

Read more:

Expansion Of 'Stand Your Ground' Laws Are Making Florida ...

By Letisha Bush Updated: Monday, April 7, 2014, 5:30 pm Published: Monday, April 7, 2014, 1:50 pm Related Content

The case of an Ono Island man accused of shooting a tourist in an alleged road rage incident is putting the spotlight on Alabamas Stand Your Ground law.

Steve Pinson was charged with first degree assault after police say he shot 44-year-old Damon Hembree on Perdido Beach Boulevard and Hwy 161 in 2012.

Police say Hempree and Pinson got into an argument while driving. After the altercation witnesses say Hembree approached Pinsons vehicle and began yelling and cursing.

Pinsons attorney says his client shot Hembree in self defense and is looking at Alabamas Stand Your Ground law as a possible defense.

There is a presumption that a person is in an occupied dwelling or an occupied vehicle that is in reasonable fear. the magic words, reasonable fear for his personal safety at the hands of another individual is no longer required to retreat any further than where he or she may be and can use force, including deadly force, said Steve Salter.

FOX10 News Reporter Letisha Bush is taking a closer look at the law and will have the latest on FOX10 News at 5 p.m.

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Baldwin County case spotlights Stand your Ground Law

The Florida Legislature is in session and the debate over warning shots will take center stage in the form of one bill

TALLAHASSEE Floridians could fire warning shots or display a weapon in self defense under a bill approved by the Florida Legislature on Thursday.

The measure, a substantial expansion of the states controversial stand your ground law, now goes to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature. He has not indicated as yet whether he will sign it.

The Senate voted 32-7 to approve it. The House approved the bill on March 20.

The measure says someone can threaten the use of force if that person feels his or her life, home or property were at risk of harm. It also allows people cleared by the courts because they acted in self-defense to petition for their records to be expunged.

In support of expungement, Sen. Charles Dean, R-Inverness, a former sheriff, said an innocent person is innocent. You shouldnt have to defend your name for the rest of your life.

Sen. Chris Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat, spoke against the proposal.

I just dont think its responsible right now to encourage people to fire warning shots, he said. I think it sends the wrong message to Florida.

But Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker, the bills Senate sponsor, said the measure is about self defense.

The bill stems from the conviction of Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot during an incident of alleged domestic violence.

Read more here:

Florida law to legalize warning shots OK'd by legislators