IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 978 

Honoring the life of Trayvon Martin, urging the repeal of Stand Your Ground 

laws, and calling on the United States Government to address the crisis 

of racial profiling. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2018 

Ms. WILSON of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life of Trayvon Martin, urging the repeal of 

Stand Your Ground laws, and calling on the United 

States Government to address the crisis of racial 

profiling. 

Whereas Trayvon Martin would have celebrated his 23rd 

birthday on February 5, 2018; 

Whereas, on February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, an AfricanAmerican youth, was horrifically shot and killed while 

walking from his local 7-Eleven in Sanford, Florida, because he was viewed as ‘‘suspicious’’ by George Zimmerman; 

Whereas Zimmerman, a self-appointed, untrained neighborhood watch volunteer, admitted to police that he shot 

Martin in the chest; 


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2 

•HRES 978 IH 

Whereas Trayvon Martin was racially profiled, stalked, 

chased, made to fight for his life, and ultimately murdered; 

Whereas Zimmerman raised a ‘‘self-defense’’ claim and Martin, as the deceased victim, was unable to rebut such 

claim; 

Whereas Trayvon Martin’s brutal death and the inconceivable 

fact that his killer remains free should not be ignored; 

Whereas over 2 million signatures have been collected on an 

online petition demanding justice for Martin’s family; 

Whereas Zimmerman’s unfounded assumptions and racial 

bias led to the use of deadly force; 

Whereas Trayvon Martin was a victim of the prejudice and 

societal isolation of Black boys and men; 

Whereas this case sets a horrific precedent of vigilante justice 

and compromises the integrity of the legal system; 

Whereas Florida’s Stand Your Ground law has been criticized 

by both the legal and law enforcement communities; 

Whereas John F. Timoney, the former Miami police chief, 

Philadelphia police commissioner, and deputy police commissioner in New York, has declared Stand Your Ground 

laws to be a ‘‘recipe for disaster’’, which ‘‘give citizens 

unfettered power and discretion with no accountability’’; 

Whereas over 20 States have passed and implemented Stand 

Your Ground laws; 

Whereas Stand Your Ground laws dramatically and recklessly 

expand the right of citizens to use deadly force, and have 

been the subject of national scrutiny in the wake of 

Trayvon Martin’s death; and 


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•HRES 978 IH 

Whereas Stand Your Ground laws were drafted by organizations, corporations, and individuals that ignored advice 

from experts explaining that such laws would compromise 

public safety, disproportionately impact communities of 

color, and would result in offenders circumventing prosecution: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns unfounded reliance on Stand 

3 Your Ground laws to protect actions that extend far 

4 beyond historical use of self-defense; 

5 (2) urges any State legislature to reject or re6 peal Stand Your Ground legislation; 

7 (3) commits to developing incentives for States 

8 to find alternatives to Stand Your Ground legislation 

9 such as grants for community policing; 

10 (4) encourages States to create penalties for in11 dividuals found to have caused substantive harm 

12 through racial profiling; and 

13 (5) urges the United States Commission on 

14 Civil Rights to seek to elevate the social status of 

15 Black men and boys by undertaking studies to un16 derstand and correct the underlying causes of higher 

17 rates of school expulsions and suspensions, homi18 cides, incarceration, poverty, violence, drug abuse, as 

19 well as income, health, and educational disparities 

20 among Black males. 

Æ 


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