Self-defense laws in the US typically justify a person’s use of lethal force in public in situations where lethal force was necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm to themselves or another person. Traditionally, these laws have been clear that taking human life is not necessary, and is therefore not justified, if the person could have avoided using lethal violence by retreating, or simply stepping away from a confrontation. A person does not have a duty to retreat from a conflict before using force in their home, however (known as the Castle Doctrine).¹ 

Stand your ground laws upend centuries of legal tradition, allowing a person to use deadly force in self-defense in public, even if that force can be safely avoided by retreating or when nonlethal force would suffice. 

Ohio Law

Ohio enacted a stand your ground law in early 2021, which generally prohibits a court or trier of fact from considering whether a person knew they could have retreated before using deadly force in self-defense when the person using force was in any place they had a right to be.² This applies to both criminal and civil liability. ³

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1. American Bar Association, “National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws: Report and Recommendations,” (September 2015): 1.[↩]
2. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2307.601 (civil liability); §2901.09 (criminal); 2019 OH SB 175 (enacting January 4, 2021).[↩]
3. Id.[↩]