Robert Patillo Responds to the Trayvon Martin Tragedy
Candidate for Georgia State Representative (D-53) call for repeal of SB 369
Atlanta, GA, March 23, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Attorney Robert H. Patillo II, a candidate for Georgia State Representative (D-53) issued the following statement calls for a repeal to Georgia Senate Bill 469 which would allow a Trayvon Martin type of tragedy to occur in Georgia. Patillo stated:
“Years ago, a wave of 'Stand your ground' laws swept the nation. Many decried these laws as 'Right to Kill' legislation and today we see why. The tragic and senseless murder of 17 year old Trayvon Martin has refocused national attention on these laws and their potential deadly impact on innocent persons.
"In Georgia, SB369 was passed in 2006 and provided that a person 'who is attacked' has no duty to retreat; that such person has a right to meet force with force, including deadly force; and provided for civil immunity to those who used such force.
"The ancillary impact of laws of this kind is that if an individual 'perceives' a threat they may act with deadly force even where they have not been attacked nor have any rational basis to use deadly force. Georgia must either amend or repeal our Stand Your Ground laws in order to prevent tragedies of this nature in the near future. When there are conservative pundits such as Neal Boortz stating that “we need to see some dead thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta” and then to have laws of this sort on the books sets the stage for another tragedy of this nature. I call upon our State Legislature to immediately address this law to protect innocent citizens from vigilante justice.”
Robert Patillo is a candidate for State Representative for House District 53. Patillo is a graduate of Clark-Atlanta University and Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2009 where he served as President of the Black Law Students Association. Previously, Patillo served as a Senior Field Manager for Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. in fundraising for the Democratic National Committee in 2004, lead workers’ rights campaigns during the Student Labor Week of Action in 2005 and assisted Rainbow/PUSH in the 2005 initiative to re-authorize the Voters Rights Act in addition to working on issues of corporate diversity and minority representation in Fortune 500 companies. He recently served as the Statewide Field Director for Ken Hodges Campaign for Attorney General and currently works as a practicing attorney in Atlanta at The Patillo Law Group, LLC.
“Years ago, a wave of 'Stand your ground' laws swept the nation. Many decried these laws as 'Right to Kill' legislation and today we see why. The tragic and senseless murder of 17 year old Trayvon Martin has refocused national attention on these laws and their potential deadly impact on innocent persons.
"In Georgia, SB369 was passed in 2006 and provided that a person 'who is attacked' has no duty to retreat; that such person has a right to meet force with force, including deadly force; and provided for civil immunity to those who used such force.
"The ancillary impact of laws of this kind is that if an individual 'perceives' a threat they may act with deadly force even where they have not been attacked nor have any rational basis to use deadly force. Georgia must either amend or repeal our Stand Your Ground laws in order to prevent tragedies of this nature in the near future. When there are conservative pundits such as Neal Boortz stating that “we need to see some dead thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta” and then to have laws of this sort on the books sets the stage for another tragedy of this nature. I call upon our State Legislature to immediately address this law to protect innocent citizens from vigilante justice.”
Robert Patillo is a candidate for State Representative for House District 53. Patillo is a graduate of Clark-Atlanta University and Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2009 where he served as President of the Black Law Students Association. Previously, Patillo served as a Senior Field Manager for Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. in fundraising for the Democratic National Committee in 2004, lead workers’ rights campaigns during the Student Labor Week of Action in 2005 and assisted Rainbow/PUSH in the 2005 initiative to re-authorize the Voters Rights Act in addition to working on issues of corporate diversity and minority representation in Fortune 500 companies. He recently served as the Statewide Field Director for Ken Hodges Campaign for Attorney General and currently works as a practicing attorney in Atlanta at The Patillo Law Group, LLC.
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Patillo For Georgia
Richard North
(404) 590-5294
www.patillo-for-state-house.com
Richard North
(404) 590-5294
www.patillo-for-state-house.com
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