“Shoot First, Ask Questions Later: Self-Defense, Stand Your Ground, and the Trayvon Martin Tragedy,” will be the title of the discussion during the Ohio Northern University Cultural Conversation hour in the Celebrezze Court Room on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 11 a.m.

The event, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Black Student Union, the Black Law Student Association and the Office of Multicultural Development.

Dr. C. Antoinette Clarke, ONU professor of law, will discuss the law of self-defense and the changes to settled doctrine that “Stand Your Ground” laws represent, and she will examine both current and proposed legislation (including Ohio’s House Bill 203) against the backdrop of the Trayvon Martin killing and other similar homicides.

Clarke also will make some suggestions for actions to change this dangerous trend in the law and some recommendations to protect young men from those who would style themselves as judge, jury and executioner.    

Clarke, who teaches Criminal Law and Juvenile Justice, joined the ONU Law faculty in 2000. Previously, she was a tenured professor at the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a litigation associate at the law firm Baker and Hostetler in Cleveland, Ohio.