A Test Case for Popular Justice

At the conference I’m attending, we’re looking at historical cases (and fictional ones, relying on the excellent western films “The Ox-Bow Incident” and “Unforgiven”) of when the state has failed to provide justice and people have resorted to vigilance committees and other forms of popular justice. I’m going to raise this case in today’s Washington Post for our next session. I sure wouldn’t want this guy in my neighborhood.



One Response to “A Test Case for Popular Justice”

  1. Holy cow. I agree that I wouldn’t want that dude around my kids. I don’t know what I’d do, but he wouldn’t move in next door to me. (That might be different from a case where he served his time and then went free. In the case in teh article, it sounds like the court saw him as a major threat and sentenced him to life plus, but now due to a stupid mistake he’s being let out.)