'Castle Doctrine' Protects Homeowners

Imagine being startled out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night by the sound of a window breaking in the living room.

You grab your gun or perhaps a baseball bat to confront a possible intruder and a few seconds later, the intruder is injured or dead and police are now investigating.

An Okauchee man recently faced such a situation. As of Aug. 29, the Waukesha County District Attorney had not charged the man in the shooting death of a James Babe, who is suspected of breaking into the Okauchee man's home.

While it has been determined that Babe was not armed, the matter remains under investigation. To protect homeowners in situations like this, there is a new bill in the state legislature that would allow law enforcement to make the presumption that the homeowner is the victim.

State Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) fully supports the measure, commonly known as the "Castle Doctrine" because he said he wanted to prevent the victim of a crime from being victimized again by the very system designed to protect them.

"There's too much scrutiny when a victim has to testify," he said. "People should be able to feel safe in their home and have the ability to defend their lives and those of their families if someone breaks in."

In a nutshell, AB 69 and SB 79 state homeowners have the right to use force intended to or likely to cause great bodily harm in defense of their home and the people inside. The law would also apply to a place of business and a car in the case of, for example, a car-jacking attempt.

"You can't run outside and shoot someone if they're stealing the radio out of your car," Wanggaard clarified. "This is meant to keep homeowners from being prosecuted for defending their lives and the lives of their family."

In his regular email update to constituents, Representative Robin Vos (R-Rochester) asks voters whether or not they support the bill.

If you need to contact your local police department, click on your village: Caledonia, Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant.

Do you support the "Castle Doctrine" bill?