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Artist News Legal
Stevie Wonder hits out at Florida’s ‘stand your ground’ law
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 17 July 2013
Stevie Wonder has vowed to never perform in Florida again until the US state abolishes its controversial ‘stand your ground’ law, a legal principle that says that people who act violently in self-defence are not obliged to first attempt to retreat from conflict.
The principle, of course, has come under the spotlight as a result of the controversial acquittal of George Zimmerman, who faced murder and manslaughter charges for killing seventeen year old Trayvon Martin in February 2012.
The criminal case, which has divided America, has thrown up all sorts of legal, political and social issues, the existence of the ‘stand your ground’ law being just one.
Many argue that the legal principle isn’t actually necessary to ensure the good working of a ‘self defence’ plea, but can encourage people to pursue a violent route of self-defence when a non-violent one is also available. It is especially controversial when, like in Florida, it applies generally and not just when protecting an individual’s own property.
Speaking in the wake of the controversial Zimmerman ruling, Wonder reportedly told his audience at a show in Canada on Sunday: “I decided today that until the ‘stand your ground’ law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again. As a matter of fact, wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world”.
It’s possibly a wide-ranging commitment, because 20 states in the US have versions of the ‘stand your ground’ law. Wonder continued: “The truth is that … for those of you who’ve lost [loved ones] in the battle for justice … we can’t bring them back. What we can do is we can let our voices be heard. And we can vote in our various countries throughout the world for change and equality for everybody. That’s what I know we can do”.
A number of US celebrities have spoken out against the Zimmerman ruling; though doing so can be controversial, so divisive has the story proven to be in America. Veteran soul singer Lester Chambers was reportedly hospitalised at the weekend after he dedicated a song to Martin at a festival in California, resulting in him being attacked by a woman in the audience.
