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* Corresponding author: Marcus Lee, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, Pick Hall, 5828 South University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637. E-mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
The story is all too familiar. On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman—the volunteer neighborhood watchman of his community in Sanford, Florida—dialed 911 to report a “real suspicious guy.” Through his car window, Zimmerman saw 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was returning home from a convenience store. Having profiled Martin as a burglar, Zimmerman exited his car to pursue and confront him—despite the dispatcher’s instruction to wait for the police. The details of what happened next are uncertain, as only Zimmerman survived to narrate the confrontation. However, what is clear is that things ended when Zimmerman fatally shot Martin. Upon arrival, the police surveyed the scene and took Zimmerman into custody; but after a round of questioning, they released him (Botehlo 2012).
News of the shooting sparked national outrage. Particularly astonishing was the Sanford Police Department’s decision to release Zimmerman that night—officers seemed to have exonerated him of murder without even the semblance of a criminal process. Martin’s parents soon released a petition for Zimmerman’s immediate arrest; community organizers coordinated mass protests, calling the glossed over killing a “modern-day lynching” (Goodman 2012); and, then-President Obama proclaimed that the shooting warranted a thorough investigation (Shear 2012).
As the case garnered national attention, Florida politics became the subject of intense scrutiny and state officials spoke out. Florida legislators lamented Martin’s death, summarily denounced the Sanford Police Department’s decision to clear Zimmerman, and construed the failure to arrest as an exceptional bureaucratic misstep (Bousquet 2012).1 But, Sanford police maintained that releasing Zimmerman that night was statutorily mandatory, and therefore procedurally appropriate. In a letter released by the Sanford City Manager, former Chief of Police Bill Lee Jr. cited a then-little-known Florida law to explain the officers’ decision:
Why was George Zimmerman not arrested the night of the shooting?
When the Sanford Police Department arrived at the scene of the incident, Mr. Zimmerman provided a statement claiming he acted in self-defense which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony. By Florida statute, law enforcement was PROHIBITED from making an arrest based on the facts and circumstances they had at the time (CNN