A measure to change Florida's "stand your ground" law is advancing again in the state Senate.
A divided Senate panel on Thursday (SB 128) voted for the bill that would place more of a burden on prosecutors to prove self-defense wasn't a factor when charging someone with assaulting or killing another person.
The Senate passed a similar bill last year but it was not considered by the House.
Jacksonville's Marissa Alexander testified for the bill. She attracted national attention after she was sentenced in 2012 to 20 years in prison for firing a gun near her estranged husband. She argued she had fired a "warning shot" and unsuccessfully tried to use Florida's "stand your ground" law as part of her defense.
Alexander's conviction was thrown out on appeal and she reached a plea deal in 2014.
Meanwhile, a push by House Speaker Richard Corcoran to limit how long top judges can remain on the bench is moving in the Florida House.
A divided House panel on Thursday approved a measure (HJR 1) that would ask the state's voters to approve a 12-year term limit for all Supreme Court justices and appeals court judges. If passed by the Florida Legislature it would go before voters in 2018.
Local
Justices and appeals court judges currently must go before voters every six years for a merit retention vote. Supporters of the term limits proposal note that no judge has ever lost a merit retention vote.
But opponents say the amendment would undercut the independence of the judicial branch and argued it would lead to less people seeking to become judges.
