Authorized Murder

I Shot a Man in Houston Just to Watch Him Die is an editorial from the blog InThe Pink Texas. The author of this editorial and blog, Eileen Smith, addressed the problems of the rise of homicides because of the “Castle Doctrine” here in Texas. The “Castle Doctrine” was adopted in Texas in 2007; other states might know it as the ‘Stand Your Ground’. Serious homicides have been justified in Texas because of this doctrine.

Smith argues what the definition of justifiable is. Invading private property or stealing is already a bad enough crime, but killing a person because of that is no justification. Ever since expansion of this doctrine the number of homicides has increased. The author explains that before the “Castle Doctrine” Texas already allowed for deadly force against intruders, thieves but instead of requiring a person to retreat from the danger when possible they no longer have to. In this editorial the author gives us an example of what would be considered  justifiable killing with a story from the Houston Chronicle about a 24 year-old getting killed by the owner of a taco truck after stealing the tip jar that contained $20. Kind of harsh, don’t you think? The author also argues at the ending of her post that police are not even allowed to use deadly force then why should average citizens. Smith’s arguments are logical. If you think about it, if you see children playing on your yard you don’t shoot them for invading private property. Some people (like the taco truck owner) take it too far. Yeah, it may be stealing or seeing a man trespass your property but I’d rather let the police deal with those type of criminals instead of becoming a criminal myself.