View source for ALEC Castle Doctrine

'''Tick Tock on Florida's "Stand Your Ground" Gun Law that Was Backed by ALEC, the NRA, Wal-Mart and Others'''
  
''(Edited excerpt based on a timeline prepared by Lisa Graves and Nick Surgey on 3-23-12, shortly after the Trayvon Martin shooting)''

*The Florida "Stand Your Ground" law became the [[Media:7J2-Castle_Doctrine_Act_Exposed.PDF|template for "model" legislation]] endorsed and promoted nationally by the '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC American Legislative Exchange Council] (ALEC)''', a non-profit entity funded by major corporations and interest groups including '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries Koch Industries]''' and the '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Rifle_Association National Rifle Association] (NRA)'''.  The bill expanded the long-standing right of self-defense by extending criminal and civil immunity to shooters who feel threatened by another, creating a statutory “right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force. . .” 

*'''ALEC''' has recently an annual budget of approximately $7 million and claims that hundreds of its model bills become law each year. It hides its inner workings, including the fact that its model bills often are drafted and always are pre-approved by corporations and lobbyists. ALEC calls itself the nation’s largest group of state legislators, but 98% of its funding comes from corporations and sources other than dues from elected officials, as the Center for Media and Democracy has determined as part of its [[ALEC_Exposed|ALECexposed.org]] project.

*In August 2005, in Grapevine, Tex., '''NRA''' lobbyist '''Marion Hammer''' asked legislators and lobbyists at a closed-door meeting of '''ALEC’s "[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Public_Safety_and_Elections_Task_Force Criminal Justice Task Force]"''' to adopt the Florida "Castle Doctrine" bill as an ALEC model bill.  The NRA said her pitch "was well received," and the bill was approved "unanimously."<ref>National Rifle Association - Institute for Legislative Action, [https://www.prwatch.org/files/NRA_2005.png NRA Presents ALEC Model Legislation in Grapevine, Texas], organizational legislative update, August 12, 2005</ref><ref>[https://www.prwatch.org/users/35275/brendan-fischer Brendan Fischer], [https://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/03/11366/alec-and-nra-behind-law-may-protect-trayvon-martins-killer ALEC Ratified NRA-Conceived Law That May Protect Trayvon Martin's Killer], ''PRWatch.org'', March 21, 2012</ref>

*At that time, '''ALEC'''’s public-private Criminal Justice Task Force was co-chaired by '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wal-Mart Wal-Mart]'''<ref>American Legislative Exchange Council, [https://www.prwatch.org/files/Wal-Mart_Co-Chair.png Criminal Justice Task Force], organizational task force description and co-chair listing showing [https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wal-Mart Wal-Mart Stores] as "Private Sector Chair," 2005</ref> -- the nation’s largest seller of guns and ammunition.<ref name="minutes">American Legislative Exchange Council, [https://www.prwatch.org/files/ALEC_minutes_05.png Minutes], organizational minutes of 2006 Spring Task Force Summit Criminal Justice Task Force Meeting and 2005 Annual Meeting Criminal Justice Task Force Meeting, 2005 and 2006</ref>  ALEC’s staffer for the task force was '''Chris Oswald''' a former “State Liaison” for the '''NRA'''.  

*Corporate representatives and state legislators on '''ALEC''' Task Forces have equal votes on proposed model legislation,<ref>American Legislative Exchange Council "ALEC 101" PR document, [[Decoding_ALEC_PR|Telling the ALEC Story]], as of 2011</ref> so the Florida law was ratified by '''Wal-Mart''' and its 2005 public sector co-chair, '''Texas Rep. Ray Allen''', along with other state legislators and corporate lobbyists. It was endorsed by a representative of the '''Koch'''-funded '''Heritage Foundation''', according to minutes of the meeting prepared by ALEC.<ref name="minutes"/>

*In September 2005, that bill was adopted by '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Board_of_Directors ALEC's National Board of Directors]''', which has a procedure to allow model bills to be approved if there is no objection. The public sector portion of the board was chaired by '''Georgia state Rep. Earl Ehrhart'''; the corporate board included '''Koch Industries''', '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Altria Altria]''' (parent of '''Philip Morris'''), '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coors Coors]''', '''Bell South''', and '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Verizon Verizon]'''.  (ALEC says its corporate board does not vote. Corporations and elected officials have an equal vote in the task forces, where model bills are adopted, however.) 

*At the next '''ALEC''' Criminal Justice Task Force meeting, in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, in 2006, the '''NRA'''’s representative to ALEC, '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tara_Mica Tara Mica]''', reported on the “continued success” in securing passage of ALEC’s “Castle Doctrine” bill in other states.<ref name="minutes"/>

*In 2007, an '''ALEC''' "Legislative Report Card" boasted that the '''ALEC/NRA''' Castle Doctrine bill had been introduced or passed in numerous states.<ref name="LegScore">American Legislative Exchange Council, [http://web.archive.org/web/20081106040540/http:/www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Legislative_Scorecard Legislative Scorecard], organizational document archived by the "WayBack Machine," archive.org, November 6, 2008</ref> ALEC also highlighted ALEC legislators who had introduced versions of the model bill, including '''Texas state Sen. Jeff Wentworth''' and '''Rep. Joe Driver'''.<ref name="LegScore"/>

*To date, more than two dozen states have adopted Castle Doctrine bills with '''ALEC/NRA''' DNA.<ref>National Rifle Association - Institute for Legislative Action, [http://web.archive.org/web/20110111055017/http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=204 Maps of State Legislation], organizational legislative page archived by the "WayBack Machine," archive.org, January 11, 2011</ref>  '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scott_Walker Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker]''', an [https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Politicians#ALEC_Alumni_Governors ALEC alum], signed into law an NRA-backed bill with some provisions similar to the ALEC bill in 2011. Similar bills are pending in other states.

*[[File:NRA lobbyist watches Jeb sign.png|thumb|right|alt=NRA lobbyist, Marion Hammer, watches Jeb Bush sign Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law in 2005|NRA lobbyist, Marion Hammer, watches Jeb Bush sign Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law in 2005]]The Florida bill that became the ALEC model was signed on April 26, 2005 by '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jeb_Bush Gov. Jeb Bush]''', with the '''NRA'''’s lobbyist, '''Marion Hammer''', standing alongside.<ref>[[Media:NRA lobbyist watches Jeb sign.png|NRA lobbyist, Marion Hammer, watches Jeb Bush sign Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law in 2005]], Photo available via [http://blogwood.com/archived/date/2005/04/ Blogwood 2.0], April 27, 2005</ref> Jury instructions were issued in the fall of 2005 that expressly include the "stand your ground" language from [https://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/07/12181/after-zimmerman-let%E2%80%99s-end-stand-your-ground this legislation]

*'''NRA''' President '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wayne_LaPierre Wayne LaPierre]''' said NRA lobbyist and former president '''Hammer''' "conceived" of the Florida bill and lobbied it into law.<ref>Manuel Roig-Franzia, [http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/05/01/nra_plans_to_push_expanded_gun_law_beyond_florida/ NRA plans to push expanded gun law beyond Florida: Measure urges fights, some say], ''Washington Post'' via ''The Boston Globe'', May 1, 2005</ref> She ridiculed opponents of the bill, calling them hysterical, and helped the bill’s co-sponsors, '''Florida state Sen. Durell Peaden''' (R-Crestview) and '''Rep. Dennis Baxley''' (R-Ocala), get it passed. 

*In 2005, '''Peaden''' was an '''ALEC''' leader, serving on the Executive Committee of the "[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Health_and_Human_Services_Task_Force Health and Human Services Task Force]."<ref>[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], [http://www2a.cdc.gov/phlp/conferencecd2005/docs/bio_peaden.pdf Durell Peaden, Jr.], government biography, 2005</ref>  

*'''Baxley''', a former head of the '''[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Christian_Coalition Christian Coalition]''' in Florida, is also a member of '''ALEC'''. His legislative résumé includes sponsorship of bills creating license plates honoring the Confederacy and the '''Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'''<ref>Judd Legum, [http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/21/449667/opponents-of-floridas-2005-stand-your-ground-law-predicted-racially-motivated-killings/?mobile=nc Opponents Of Florida’s 2005 'Stand Your Ground' Law Predicted ‘Racially Motivated Killings’], ''ThinkProgress'', March 21, 2012</ref> Opponents of the "Castle Doctrine" bill predicted it would immunize racially motivated killers...

*The NRA has pushed [[Guns,_Prisons,_Crime,_and_Immigration|several other ALEC "model"]] bills to change state laws on firearms.

*CMD [https://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11508/cmd-special-report-new-documents-confirm-koch-was-alec-crime-task-force-led-nra has documented] [https://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11512/cmd-special-report-alecs-gun-agenda-flourished-koch-industries-board-other-koch-f ALEC's legacy of pushing extreme gun legislation], while the organization's corporate board has included Koch Industries. ALEC has said that the Stand Your Ground legislation is no longer one of its model bills but it has done nothing to get the Florida law it previously endorse and pushed for years repealed.

==Additional resources from CMD include:==

*Brendan Fischer, [https://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/01/11937/nra-and-koch-backed-alec-have-fought-gun-buyback-programs-across-country ALEC Ratified the NRA-Conceived Law That May Protect Trayvon Martin's Killer], March 21, 2012.

*Brendan Ficher, [https://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/03/12029/machine-guns-vegas-strip-nevada-alecnra-bill-introduced-stop-cities-banning-machi Machine Guns on the Vegas Strip? In Nevada, ALEC/NRA Bill Introduced to Stop Cities from Banning Machine Guns], March 22, 2013.

*Lisa Graves, [https://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/03/11393/resources-investigating-alecnra-gun-bills Resources for Investigating ALEC/NRA Gun Bills ], March 30, 2012.

*CMD's [https://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/03/11366/alec-ratified-nra-conceived-law-may-protect-trayvon-martins-killer research] helped break the story of ALEC's role in pushing the Florida Stand Your Ground law as a national model.

==References==

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