ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the justification defense of self-defense, which states that one’s use of force against another person may be justified if they are threatened with unlawful force. Self-defense, however, must be found to be both necessary and proportional to the harm that was originally threatened. The chapter begins with the story of Celia, a slave in Missouri who was repeatedly raped and abused by her owner and eventually killed him, resulting in her conviction for first-degree murder. The chapter then discusses the case of Bernhard Goetz, who shot and seriously injured a group of threatening robbers on a New York subway car and was not found guilty of assault or attempted murder. These different outcomes in cases involving self-defense reflect the state diversity in qualifications for self-defense, which may take an “all-or-nothing” approach or the Model Penal Code’s “sliding scale” approach. The chapter discusses these variations and ends with a consideration of which threats may justify the use of deadly force.
