Self-Defense Laws by State — Justifiable Force and Stand-Your-Ground Statutes Compared

“(e) School security personnel and school resource officers qualified under Section 16-1-44.1(a), employed by a local board of education, and authorized by the employing local board of education to carry a deadly weapon while on duty are exempt from subsection (d). Law enforcement officers are exempt from this section, and persons with permits issued pursuant to Section 13A-11-75, are exempt from subsection (d).”

“(a) A person is justified in using nondeadly force upon another when and to the extent the person reasonably believes it is necessary for self-defense against what the person reasonably believes to be the use of unlawful force by the other person, unless”

“(b) When contacted by a law enforcement officer and failing to accurately answer the officer if the officer asks whether the person is carrying a concealed deadly weapon; or”

“(4) A person may not use deadly physical force in self-defense if the person knows that he or she can avoid the necessity of using deadly physical force: By retreating.”

“(a) A person who has discharged or discharges waste into the waters of this state in violation of any waste discharge requirement or other order or prohibition issued by a regional board or the state board, or who has caused or permitted, causes or permits, or threatens to cause or permit any waste to be discharged or deposited where it is, or probably will be, discharged into the waters of the state and creates, or threatens to create, a condition of pollution or …”

“(1) The use of physical force upon another person that would otherwise constitute an offense is justifiable and not criminal under any of the following circumstances:”

“(a)(1) For purposes of this section, a reasonable belief that a person has committed an offense means a reasonable belief in facts or circumstances which if true would in law constitute an offense. If the believed facts or circumstances would not in law constitute an offense, an erroneous though not unreasonable belief that the law is otherwise does not render justifiable the use of physical force to make an arrest or to prevent an escape from custody.”

“(e) Upon any judgment under this section a stay of execution for 6 months shall be granted on security being given by the defendant for the payment of such judgment, with interest and costs, in such form as by the rules of the court are prescribed. In case of a suit by or against a corporation, the affidavit by the cashier or treasurer shall be sufficient in this section. In case of security being given as aforesaid by the defendant, the entry of such security shall have …”

“In addition to the powers vested in them by law, the Council of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized and empowered to make and modify, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized and empowered to enforce, under such penalties as the Council may deem necessary, all needful rules and regulations for the proper government, conduct, discipline, and good name of said Metropolitan Police force; and said Mayor is hereby authorized and empowered to …”

“(e) “Victim” means a person upon whom an offense described in this section was committed or attempted or a person who has reported a violation of this section to a law enforcement officer.”

“(1) Threaten or use force against another in defense of a federally licensed nuclear power facility and the persons therein as provided for under Code Sections 16-3-21 and 16-3-23;”

“"Employees of the State" includes officers and employees of any state agency, members of the Hawaii national guard, Hawaii state defense force, and persons acting in behalf of a state agency in an official capacity, temporarily, whether with or without compensation. "Employees of the State" also includes persons employed by a county of this State as lifeguards and designated to provide lifeguard services at a designated state beach park under an agreement between the …”

“(2) When committed in defense of habitation, a place of business or employment, occupied vehicle, property or person, against one who manifestly intends or endeavors, by violence or surprise, to commit a felony, or against one who manifestly intends and endeavors, in a violent, riotous or tumultuous manner, to enter the habitation, place of business or employment or occupied vehicle of another for the purpose of offering violence to any person therein;”

“By mutual agreement of a teacher and the employing board, the board may, but is not required to, grant the teacher a leave of absence to accept employment in a Department of Defense overseas dependents' school. If such a leave of absence is granted, the teacher may elect, for a period not exceeding the lesser of the period for which he is so employed or 5 years, (a) to preserve his contractual continued service status under this Act, and (b) to continue receipt, on the …”

“(d) It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that the accused person reasonably believed that the child was sixteen (16) years of age or older at the time of the conduct, unless:”

“e. Knowingly permits the continuing physical or sexual abuse of a child or minor. However, it is an affirmative defense to this subsection if the person had a reasonable apprehension that any action to stop the continuing abuse would result in substantial bodily harm to the person or the child or minor.”

“(1) Except as provided in subsection (b)(4) and (5), the intentional recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjecting the person to involuntary servitude or forced labor;”

“(2) The use of deadly physical force by a defendant upon another person is justifiable under subsection (1) only when the defendant believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death, serious physical injury, kidnapping, sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat, felony involving the use of force, or under those circumstances permitted pursuant to KRS 503.055.”

“D. No finder of fact shall be permitted to consider the possibility of retreat as a factor in determining whether or not the person who used force or violence in defense of his person or property had a reasonable belief that force or violence was reasonable and apparently necessary to prevent a forcible offense or to prevent the unlawful entry.”

“E-1. Is currently a restricted person pursuant to Title 34‑B, section 3862‑A, subsection 4 or Title 34‑B, section 3862‑A, subsection 6, paragraph D or a similar order issued by another jurisdiction, except that the prohibition applies to possession and control and not ownership. A permit issued pursuant to subsection 2 is not a defense to a violation of this paragraph. Violation of this paragraph is a Class D crime;”

“F. Provide for the licensure and mobility of the workforce in the profession while addressing the shortage of workers and lessening the associated burdens on the Member States.”

“(b)(1) Upon application, as provided in this section, there shall be allowed and paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth, without appropriation, the sums specified in this section to each person who has served in the armed forces of the United States in active service as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Freedom Sentinel or any successor or related operation; provided, however, …”

“Sec. 301. (1) An employee, who receives a personal injury arising out of and in the course of employment by an employer who is subject to this act at the time of the injury, shall be paid compensation as provided in this act. A personal injury under this act is compensable if work causes, contributes to, or aggravates pathology in a manner so as to create a pathology that is medically distinguishable from any pathology that existed prior to the injury. In the case of …”

“For the purposes of this section, "deadly force" means force which the actor uses with the purpose of causing, or which the actor should reasonably know creates a substantial risk of causing, death or great bodily harm. The intentional discharge of a firearm, other than a firearm loaded with less lethal munitions and used by a peace officer within the scope of official duties, in the direction of another person, or at a vehicle in which another person is believed to be, …”

“(13) When investigating allegations of a violation of subsection (3), (4), (5) or (11) of this section, whether or not an arrest results, law enforcement officers shall utilize the form prescribed for such purposes by the Office of the Attorney General in consultation with the sheriff’s and police chief’s associations. However, failure of law enforcement to utilize the uniform offense report shall not be a defense to a crime charged under this section. The uniform offense …”

“(1) The actor was the initial aggressor; except that in such case his or her use of force is nevertheless justifiable provided:”

“(1) When criminality depends on the victim being less than 16 years old, it is a defense for the offender to prove that the offender reasonably believed the child to be above that age. The belief may not be considered reasonable if the child is less than 14 years old.”

“(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 28-1414 , the use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the actor believes that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by such other person on the present occasion. (2) The use of such force is not justifiable under this section to resist an arrest which the actor knows is being made by a peace officer, although the arrest …”

“2. A person is not required to retreat before using deadly force as provided in subsection 1 if the person:”

“I. A law enforcement officer is justified in using non-deadly force upon another person when and to the extent that he reasonably believes it necessary to effect an arrest or detention or to prevent the escape from custody of an arrested or detained person, unless he knows that the arrest or detention is illegal, or to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the imminent use of non-deadly force encountered while attempting to effect such an …”

“(2) The use of deadly force is not justifiable under this section unless the actor reasonably believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death or serious bodily harm; nor is it justifiable if:”

“B. For the purposes of this section, homicide is necessarily committed when a public officer or public employee has probable cause to believe he or another is threatened with serious harm or deadly force while performing those lawful duties described in this section. Whenever feasible, a public officer or employee should give warning prior to using deadly force.”

“§ 40.00 Duress.\n 1. In any prosecution for an offense, it is an affirmative defense\nthat the defendant engaged in the proscribed conduct because he was\ncoerced to do so by the use or threatened imminent use of unlawful\nphysical force upon him or a third person, which force or threatened\nforce a person of reasonable firmness in his situation would have been\nunable to resist.\n 2. The defense of duress as defined in subdivision one of this section\nis not available …”

“(6) The offense was committed against or proximately caused serious injury to a present or former law enforcement officer, employee of the Department of Public Safety or the Department of Adult Correction, jailer, fireman, emergency medical technician, ambulance attendant, social worker, justice or judge, clerk or assistant or deputy clerk of court, magistrate, prosecutor, juror, or witness against the defendant, while engaged in the performance of that person's official …”

“2. If a person is justified or excused in using force against another, but he recklessly or negligently injures or creates a risk of injury to other persons, the justifications afforded by this chapter are unavailable in a prosecution for such recklessness or negligence.”

“(B) A plaintiff who is not an insured under a particular policy of liability insurance may not commence against the insurer that issued the policy an action or proceeding under this chapter that seeks a declaratory judgment or decree as to whether the policy's coverage provisions extend to an injury, death, or loss to person or property that a particular insured under the policy allegedly tortiously caused the plaintiff to sustain or caused another person for whom the …”

“1. Look upon, touch, maul, or feel the body or private parts of any human corpse in any indecent manner relating to sexual matters or sexual interest; or 2. Urinate, defecate or ejaculate upon any human corpse. D. Any person convicted of a violation of subsection B or C of this section shall be deemed guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not more than ten (10) years. E. The fact that an undercover …”

“(1) It is an affirmative defense to murder in the second degree for purposes of ORS 163.115 (1)(a) that the homicide was committed under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance if the disturbance is not the result of the person’s own intentional, knowing, reckless or criminally negligent act and if there is a reasonable explanation for the disturbance. The reasonableness of the explanation for the disturbance must be determined from the standpoint of an ordinary …”

“(b) Victim's consent to employment contract in labor servitude.--The consent of the victim of human trafficking to an employment contract, notwithstanding if there was not fraud involved in the contract's formation, shall not be a defense to labor trafficking if force or coercion as described in section 3012(b) (relating to involuntary servitude) were involved in the making of the contract.”

“(b) Any merchant who observes any person concealing or attempting to conceal merchandise on his person or amongst his or her belongings or upon the person or amongst the belongings of another, transporting merchandise beyond the area within the retail mercantile establishment where payment for it is to be made without making payment for it, removing or altering price tags on merchandise, or switching the containers of merchandise may stop the person. Immediately upon …”

“(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 14-7-1020, in cases involving capital punishment a person called as a juror must be examined by the attorney for the defense.”

“Any person who abuses, exposes, tortures, torments, or cruelly punishes a minor in a manner which does not constitute aggravated assault, is guilty of a Class 4 felony. If the victim is less than seven years of age, the person is guilty of a Class 3 felony. The use of reasonable force, as provided in § 22-18-5, is a defense to an offense under this section. Notwithstanding § 23A-42-2, a charge brought pursuant to this section may be commenced at any time before the victim …”

“(1) A person commits criminal attempt who, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for the offense: Intentionally engages in action or causes a result that would constitute an offense, if the circumstances surrounding the conduct were as the person believes them to be;”

“(a) A person commits an offense if, with a child younger than 17 years of age, whether the child is of the same or opposite sex and regardless of whether the person knows the age of the child at the time of the offense, the person:”

“(b) "Forcible felony" includes any other felony offense that involves the use of force or violence against an individual that poses a substantial danger of death or serious bodily injury.”

“Any resident of the State of Vermont who is serving in the U.S. Armed Forces or is performing or under orders to perform any homeland defense or State-side contingency operation, or both, for a period of 120 consecutive days or more shall certify that he or she is eligible under this section to obtain at no cost a hunting or fishing license or a combination hunting and fishing license. This provision will apply only during the period he or she is serving in the U. S. …”

“I. "Simple assault" or "assault and battery" shall not be construed to include the use of, by any school security officer or full-time or part-time employee of any public or private elementary or secondary school while acting in the course and scope of his official capacity, any of the following: (i) incidental, minor or reasonable physical contact or other actions designed to maintain order and control; (ii) reasonable and necessary force to quell a disturbance or remove …”

“The use, attempt, or offer to use force upon or toward the person of another is not unlawful in the following cases:”

“(f) It is a defense to a violation of subsection (d) of this section, that the accused’s action was necessary to preserve the welfare of the minor child and the accused promptly reported his or her actions to a person with lawful custody of the minor, to law enforcement, or to the Child Protective Services Division of the Department of Human Services.”

“(a) A person who engages in unlawful conduct of a type likely to provoke others to attack him or her and thereby does provoke an attack is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense against such attack, except when the attack which ensues is of a type causing the person engaging in the unlawful conduct to reasonably believe that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm. In such a case, the person engaging in the unlawful conduct is privileged …”

“(a) The use of defensive force whether actual or threatened, is reasonable when it is the defensive force that a reasonable person in like circumstances would judge necessary to prevent an injury or loss, and no more, including deadly force if necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily injury to the person employing the deadly force or to another person. As used in this subsection, "necessary to prevent" includes a necessity that arises from an honest belief …”