Today Senator Scott Lautenbaugh introduced LB 804 in the Nebraska Legislature. The Introduced Copy of the bill can be found on the State’s website. We’ll be tracking and reporting on the progress of the bill, so check back here frequently!
By Matt Gibbs
This year, Nebraska citizens can look forward to a bill that, when passed may help every law abiding citizen sleep a little better at night. The Victim Protection Act, may protect victims of a life threatening crime from civil suits in the event of using deadly force to protect themselves or others. The Victim Protection Act would also allow victims to stand their ground when threatened with deadly force.
Try this scenario on for size:
“You and your family have just finished dinner and are retiring to the family room to relax together with a movie. As you enter the room, you find an uninvited guest digging through your DVD collection. Startled by what you see you yell at the intruder to leave the home immediately. Instead of fleeing, the intruder turns and starts closing the distance on you and your family. You begin backing away from the advancing burglar through the door back to the dining room, pushing your family along the way. Next, you realize this person does not intend to leave the way he came in, via the open front door at the far side of the family room. As the intruder slides his hands into his jacket pockets, he continues closing the distance on you and your family. You draw your firearm as the intruder climbs over the couch, only feet away from you and your family. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”
According to current Nebraska law, you may have set yourself up to be a victim a second time. Even if the criminal courts find your use of deadly force to protect your family justifiable, you have left yourself open to civil lawsuits from the intruder or the intruder’s family should the intruder not live through the burglary.
No one called 911 prior to the trigger squeeze. Nobody knows exactly what happened but you, your family, and the intruder on the floor. How do you prove you had no other option? It’s your word against his.
Why should the burden of proof fall on the victim of a crime? A law-abiding citizen, attacked in a place where he has a right to be, should be able to stand his ground against a criminal. Why does Nebraska law currently protect the criminal?
If a person is justified in using force under Nebraska Statutes, then he should be immune from civil actions by a criminal or the criminal’s family. Current law allows the criminal once again to victimize his prey.
Contact your state senators and let them know what you think of the Victim Protection Act. Your senators cannot represent you if they don’t know what you want. Find your state senator here: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/senators/senator_find.php .
By Shawn Whittington Jr.
The Victim Protection Actwill be one of many bills to come before the Nebraska legislature in 2012. This bill addresses needed changes in Nebraska’s current laws pertaining to victims of violent crime and self defense.
I have spent more than a decade as an NRA certified trainer teaching citizens of all backgrounds and abilities how to safely handle firearms. I am also certified as a Nebraska concealed weapons permit instructor and teach a number of advanced self defense courses.
There is one topic of discussion that comes up in every class, regardless if it is a class of novice or advanced students. Fear. And I don’t mean the survival signal that protects and warns us. It’s an unreasonable fear. A fear of financial ruin when forced to legally defend yourself, and in the process you injure or kill your attacker. In the aftermath, either the attacker or their family sue you in civil court and force you to exhaust your financial resources, and very likely go into debt financing a defense.
You can be 100% justified, having committed no criminal act, and still be sued in civil court. The cost of your defense could range into the tens of thousands of dollars.
I tell all of my students to plan for this. If you are ever involved in a self defense incident, plan on having to exhaust your financial resources fighting in civil court. Once this has a chance to sink in, it is obvious that, for some, the risk is too great. They won’t fight back. Instead they will gamble on surviving, hoping to preserve their financial future. This is wrong. Why should any citizen fear their own legal system more than a criminal who wants to assault, rape, or kidnap them? Unfortunately that is how it is now in Nebraska, but we can change that.
The Victim Protection Act gives immunity from civil liability to the victims of a violent crime who legally defend themselves. With the passage of the Victim Protection Act, there is no chance of the perpetrator or their family being able to file a frivolous lawsuit hoping for a big payday.
It is important to note that the Victim Protection Act in no way absolves one of all responsibility. If you act in a manner that is reckless or negligent the Victim Protection Act offers no protection. You make a bad decision, and you will be held accountable. The victim or their family will be able to use the full weight of the legal system in seeking a judgment against you.
This is a completely reasonable change to existing Nebraska law. We remove the unreasonable fear of frivolous lawsuits but maintain a victims right to sue if the actor is reckless or negligent.
Over thirty states have some form of the Victim Protection Act providing a measure of peace of mind for the victims of violent crime who choose to fight back.
I tell all of my students that they should not let the unreasonable fear of being sued stop them from doing what they need to do to survive a violent attack. That can be easier said than done. I teach them that continued training, awareness, and avoidance are the best ways to survive.
But if the worst case scenario happens and you have to fight for your life, then you must do so without hesitation. The last thing that should be clouding your judgment is an unreasonable fear of a personal injury lawyer destroying you and your family financially.
By Greg Lamb
“The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals.” -President James Monroe (November 16, 1818)
In 2012, the Victim Protection Act will be proposed in Nebraska to amend our self-defense laws. These collective amendments, also known as “Castle Doctrine” and “Stand Your Ground Law”, have been a source of consternation for those unfamiliar with the unjust shortcomings of current state law.
In the national media war that is being waged, opponents to the Castle Doctrine have slung grenades of reckless metaphors. Pseudonyms such as “Shoot First Laws”, “Make My Day Laws”, and “Shoot the Neighbor Laws” are used to obscure the true issues. Though it may appear to be a pun, the use of the word “grenade” as a metaphor is in fact an appropriate description of the arsenal used by those who would have you misunderstand and fear this legislation. After all, a grenade requires little accuracy save delivering it into the general vicinity of the target, and it has a devastating outcome for all that it encounters. In the same manner, the opponents of Castle Doctrine are not concerned with the accuracy of their vocabulary. They simply want to sway people with a barrage of fear laden terms. The unfortunate result is that those who can twist the language to evoke an emotional response, regardless of the flawed logic and inaccuracies, often win the battle.
The purpose of my writings here is to extract the rhetoric and present the facts as they relate to all law abiding people.
Myth: The proposed legislation only affects gun owners.
Neither the current self-defense laws nor the proposed legislation has any language regarding firearms. The intent of the law is to define when a victim is justified in using deadly force, if there is an obligation to retreat, and whether the victim of a crime who justly uses force could be further victimized by a suit in civil court.
Myth: The Castle Doctrine allows a person to use force regardless of the threat level.
Nebraska law states that in order for a person to use force they must believe that a threat of death, serious bodily harm, kidnapping, or rape exists for them or another person. The proposed legislation goes further in stating it is a reasonable assumption that an intruder who forcibly enters your home, car, or place of business has intent to inflict harm on you or others within. In this situation, you are allowed to use force, including deadly force, to stop the threat. Again, this does not only apply to the use of guns. If you defend yourself with a knife, heavy object, or sick a dog on the assailant and it results in their injury or death, you could face life altering legal prosecution and a financially devastating civil suit without a comprehensive Victim Protection Act.
Myth: The legislation would allow vigilante justice.
In no way does this legislation grant a person the right to inflict harm on others at will. The proposed language still requires that a person have a reasonable belief that another intends to cause harm or unjustly relieve them of their property at that moment. In fact, special wording has been added to the proposed law which does not allow a victim to use deadly force as the criminal is attempting to exit the dwelling or car they had previously illegally entered.
Myth: Blood will run in the streets if the Castle Doctrine is implemented.
Just as those who envisioned an increase in violence due to the enactment of Concealed Handgun laws, the same claims have been used to resist the adoption of the Victim Protection Act. Those who have made this assertion, though erroneous, have at least been consistent. No less than 31 states have implemented some form of this legislation, but the apocalyptic predictions have proven once again to be unfounded. It might be surprising to know that one such state is California. Surprising because California has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Nevertheless,California still recognizes an individual’s right to self-defense.
This proposed change in our legal doctrine is not for gun owners. It is for all law abiding members of our society. If you are attacked, the legal system should not be allowed to cast you as the criminal. Avoiding confrontation is always the best course of action; however, if you righteously defend yourself or others, you should not be condemned for standing your ground. If you successfully fight off the criminal, and in doing so cause them harm, you should not be further wronged by a civil suit that strips you and your family of their financial well being.
This site is dedicated to the advancement of LB804: the Victim Protection Act in Nebraska. The Victim Protection Act would provide Nebraskans three important protections:
If you would like to contribute to this campaign’s fundraising, please follow this link:
All donations through this website will be used directly to advertise through radio, direct mailings, and other avenues we are developing to educate the public and get LB804: the Victim Protection Act passed in 2012. Also, make sure you sign up on the front page if you would like to receive updates as we make progress on protecting victims of crime in Nebraska. Thanks for stopping by!