Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for December 14, 2018

The stand your ground defense can only be used against black people.

Now Neighbor Bob will make an EVEN BIGGER stain! S P L A T!

now why does Rat even have an olive tree to begin with (when it has nothing to do with Bob)?

Could this be Pastis expressing his hopes regarding a real neighbor?

Hey, Neighbor Bob! You’re staining the ground. Pick yourself up and clean up the mess you made.

Just wait until Pastis tries something funny.

Rat just filed Neighbor Bob’s complaint under ‘miscellaneous’.

Maybe, Rat, but now you’ve run afoul of the “stained your ground” laws!!

I thought stand your ground laws could only be invoked if you shot and killed black people?

Do it Pig! DO IT!!! You’ll being do all of humanity a huge favor.

Self-defense has become indefensible. Now the victim is the criminal, and the aggressor is guiltless because his actions are the result of inadequate social upbringing and should therefore have no consequences.

Too bad social upbringing no longer includes behavioral consequences…now it’s back to anarchy and the law of the jungle!

Maybe he was there to thank him…

Why is everyone standing on the edge of a random cliff (besides that fact that it’s necessary for the gag)?

With his genius for interpreting the law, I nominate Rat for Supreme Court Justice. I’d love to see him go through the nomination process.

Just to inform, Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground laws are two distinct laws.

Stand Your Ground laws simply state you do not have a duty to retreat no matter where you are. If somebody kicks in your back door and enters, you do not have to retreat, you can defend your self immediately. In states lacking this law, you have to retreat or backup to a safe place if possible.

Castle Doctrine is the fact that your home (with the accompanying attachments like deck, yards, garage), car, business are yours and you have a right to defend yourself if somebody enters by force or illegally. In NC you cannot use deadly force against police, bail bonds people, and relatives who have a right to be there. Read your own state law for specifics as they vary from state to state.)

Neither law justifies emptying a gun into the aggressor. You must stop once they turn and run (cannot claim self defense against a person facing away from you), if they drop their weapon, or if they lay down on the floor and do not pose a threat. I.E. You must stop once the threat is stopped. If you continue as some emotional hothead say they will do, you very likely will find yourself in a courtroom wishing you had a good attorney.

Entering into all this is the concept of Diversity of Force. If two 150 lb men of similar build are fighting, that is a fair fight. BUT if you are 60 with a bad back and arthritis and are confronted by two 27 year olds of athletic build and they move to attack you, that is called diversity of force and allows more latitude in defensive actions.

Stand your ground is a great law but it is always better to get away if possible than to stand and confront. But if you have kids upstairs, that would not be an option.

Again, know your state laws as they vary from state to state. Speak to somebody qualified. Telling a judge you read it in the funnies on line will not be much of a defense.

I always wondered how Rat could toss a guy twice his size off a cliff.

Rat the murderer. Just threw Bob off a cliff.

Now you know why Rat always takes the high ground.

Rat’s new neighbor is Cliff.

I wish you weren’t This Guy. Ugh.

More fun than defenestration.

That was a bit harsh!

I don’t get it. Is this based on some recent change in stand-your-ground laws someplace? Even if so, those laws don’t apply in this situation.

While I probably agree with your politics, BTG, I live in a town where a white former police captain is on trial for shooting a white guy who threw a popcorn box at him in a theater. The odds are unquestionably against black people, but every case is individual. We shouldn’t lose sight of that.

So much for offering an olive branch.

As I’ve said before, Neighbor Bobs are expendable and replaceable. Only the punchline has been changed, to amuse the readers….

Is the hand lettering made into a type font via computer? it looks so neat.