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 African- 
American youth, was horrifically shot and killed while 
walking from his local 7-Eleven in Sanford, Florida, be-
cause he was viewed as ‘‘suspicious’’ by George Zimmer-
man; 
Whereas Zimmerman, a self-appointed, untrained neighbor-
hood watch volunteer, admitted to police that he shot 
Martin in the chest; 
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•HRES 978 IH 
Whereas Trayvon Martin was racially profiled, stalked, 
chased, made to fight for his life, and ultimately mur-
dered; 
Whereas Zimmerman raised a ‘‘self-defense’’ claim and Mar-
tin, 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 com-
missioner 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 organiza-
tions, 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 pros-
ecution: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns unfounded reliance on Stand 
Your Ground laws to protect actions that extend far 
beyond historical use of self-defense; 
(2) urges any State legislature to reject or re-
peal Stand Your Ground legislation; 
(3) commits to developing incentives for States 
to find alternatives to Stand Your Ground legislation 
such as grants for community policing; 
(4) encourages States to create penalties for in-
dividuals found to have caused substantive harm 
through racial profiling; and 
(5) urges the United States Commission on 
Civil Rights to seek to elevate the social status of 
Black men and boys by undertaking studies to un-
derstand and correct the underlying causes of higher 
rates of school expulsions and suspensions, homi-
cides, incarceration, poverty, violence, drug abuse, as 
well as income, health, and educational disparities 
among Black males. 
Æ 
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