Self Defense, Stand Your Ground and the Martin Shooting

STRAIGHT FROM THE LAWYER'S LIPS

a legal blog written by Steven H. Wolff, Esq.

 

Well, just when we thought the news cycle had passed us by, George Zimmerman is back in the news.  The attention has been on his bail, and whether or not they fibbed on their finances.  But we've heard a lot about the self defense laws and the infamous "Stand Your Ground" law.  Let's take a look at the shooting of Trayvon Martin, self defense laws and where New Jersey and Florida are different on those laws. 

  Let’s focus on criminal liability in the law, since that seems to be what a lot of the attention in the Martin case in Florida has been about.  The self defense law for New Jersey can be found at NJSA 2C-3-4(a).  Basically, it says that you have the right to use self defense to defend against unlawful force.  It is the right of a person to defend against seriously threatened unlawful force that is actually pending, or reasonably anticipated.  So if a person is in imminent danger of bodily harm that person has the right to use force, even deadly force when it is necessary to prevent the other party from using unlawful force.  However, the defender cannot just go crazy and act with impunity.  The force is limited to being immediately necessary and the force used must not be significantly greater, rather it must be proportionate to the unlawful force threatened or used.  Deadly force may only be used by a defender against force, or the threat of force, of nearly equal severity and the defender must reasonably believe that this force is necessary to protect themselves against death or serious bodily harm.  So if someone slaps you, it would most likely not be justifiable for you to use deadly force to defend against such conflict.    

A major difference between Florida and New Jersey when it comes to self defense is Florida employs the so called “Stand Your Ground” law while New Jersey requires a person to retreat to safety, if possible, before resorting to deadly force in self defense.  So in Florida, if you are faced with a threat to yourself of either death or serious bodily harm you can stand your ground and use deadly force regardless of the fact that you may have been able to retreat to safety. While here in New Jersey, you have a duty to retreat if possible before using deadly force. 

Another difference is the way we treat firearms in New Jersey versus Florida.  Here, we restrict the right of civilians to carry concealed weapons to only those who show an actual threat to their life such as a retired police officers, active police officers, armored car drivers and licensed private investigators. 

Hopefully this was a helpful intro to the New Jersey self defense laws and their differences between the laws in Florida.  If you have any further questions about this topic, please feel free to contact my office at 973-685-7160.

Yours Truly,

  

 Steven H. Wolff, Esq.

“Straight From the Lawyer's Lips!” is a blog in which answers to your legal questions submitted to steven@wolfflawnj.com may be answered. The answers to the questions are for informational purposes only and are not to be construed as legal advice or the creation of an attorney-client relationship. The facts of each case is different, therefore you should seek competent legal representation.

The Law Office of Steven H. Wolff, LLC is a full service law firm which can be reached at 973-685-7160.  If you have a legal matter, please contact Mr. Wolff to discuss your case with a free consultation. 

Straight From the Lawyer's Lips 

A Legal Blog

 by Steven H. Wolff, Esq. 

 

Can Spanking Your Child Send You to the Slammer?

The other day I was speaking with a client.  The conversation went to child raising and she asked me if it was still legal to give your child a spank. Well, that all depends on what exactly is your definition of spanking.  The language in the statute that governs child abuse talks about unnecessary severe corporal punishment, unnecessary cruelty (of the physical or mental kind) and failing to provide proper food, clothing and regular school education.  Recently, there was just a case decided by the State Appeals Court where they upheld a decision by the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) that found that a parent’s slap in the face of an 8 year old constituted unnecessary and excessive force.  The slap, which left a bruise on the child’s face, was deemed by the Court to “go beyond what is proper and reasonable.”

 One of the key factors the Court looked at in their decision was that the slap was to the face, and not to another area like the shoulder or buttocks.  By striking the child in the face the parent has “intensified the potential for harm.”  Basically, if you hit someone in the face you do some real damage (knock out a tooth or injury and eye for example) versus hitting a child on an area that isn’t a vital organ or isn’t likely to result in a great deal of harm. The parent in that case had also used a degree of force that was high enough to leave fingerprints and bruising.  In New Jersey, if DYFS decides that they find abuse or neglect of a child, then that parent can be placed on a registry kept of abusive parents.  So you can see the degree of seriousness in a matter like this- not only are charges involved, but you can be placed on a registry.  There is also a duty to report abuse found in the law and failure to do so can subject a party to criminal liability. 

So after all this, I told the client that a quick, light smack on the tuchus is probably not going to get you in trouble.   But as our standards of what is proper and reasonable concerning corporal punishment change, then so will the degree of legally accepted discipline. 

Yours Truly,

     Steven H. Wolff, Esq.

“Straight From the Lawyer’s Lips” is a blog in which answers to your legal questions submitted to steven@wolfflawnj.com may be answered. The answers to the questions are for informational purposes only and are not to be construed as legal advice or the creation of an attorney-client relationship. The facts of each case is different, therefore you should seek competent legal representation.

The Law Office of Steven H. Wolff, LLC is a full service law firm which can be reached at 973-685-7160.  If you have a legal matter, please contact Mr. Wolff to discuss your case with a free consultation.