Ohio’s Black leaders continue to sound alarms over a change in the state's self-defense law, which goes into effect Tuesday.
Senate Bill 175 removes the duty to retreat, meaning people are no longer required to back away from confrontations in public before they can exert deadly force.
In 2008, lawmakers enacted the “Castle Doctrine,” which removed the requirement to retreat before using force only when the threatened person is in their home or car. The new measure expands the use of force to public settings like streets, parking lots and grocery stores.
Proponents of the new law argue that it enacts a common sense reform and aims to give Ohio victims the opportunity to defend themselves wherever danger lurks. Opponents, however, say the law allows people to kill others with impunity.