© 2024 WLRN
MIAMI | SOUTH FLORIDA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Miami Judge Rules Florida’s New Stand-Your-Ground Law Is Unconstitutional

Roberto Koltun
/
Miami Herald
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch, pictured here at a hearing in March, on Monday declared the state’s new self-defense law unconstititutional.";

Florida’s updated “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law is unconstitutional, a Miami judge ruled on Monday.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch ruled that lawmakers overstepped their authority in creating the law this year that forces prosecutors to disprove a defendant’s self-defense claim at a pre-trial hearing.

The judge ruled that under Florida’s constitution, that change should have been crafted by the Florida Supreme Court, not the Legislature.

“As a matter of constitutional separation of powers, that procedure cannot be legislatively modified,” Hirsch wrote in a 14-page order.

The ruling is a victory for prosecutors who have firmly opposed the law they believe makes it easier for defendants to get away with murder and other violent crime.

Read more at our news partner the Miami Herald

 

More On This Topic