Self-defense is a right so fundamental that the scholarly literature regularly refers to it as the ancient right or the first civil right. But despite the right’s bedrock status in criminal law, legislators, academics, and every-day citizens alike all have strongly held—and, in fact, often strongly divergent—opinions about when it is legally (and morally) appropriate to exercise self-preferential force. Some favor “tough-on-crime” approaches, according broader leeway to those defending themselves against attacks. Others advocate for a more “humanitarian” construction of the law, providing greater protections even to culpable attackers who threaten their victims with serious injury.

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