Vigilante Justice

Just when you thought humans were outgrowing retribution as a lifestyle choice

Vigilante justice is not something most of us have had to think about. Even someone 100 years old today in the United States has had the benefit of mostly functioning courts of law and reliable venues for adjudication their entire lives. Prior to that, though, in the 19th century, especially in the western United States, sometimes townspeople felt it so unlikely there’d be an honest and uncorrupted sheriff in town or a chance justice could ever be served that they took the law into their own hands. Among the stories that treat this theme are the novel The Virginian by Owen Wister (1902), which much later formed the basis for a popular TV series of the same name, and the films The Westerner (1940) and High Noon (1952), both starring Gary Cooper. In the real life 1800s, sometimes public opinion in the wake of vigilante attacks or killings varied widely and reasoned judgments could only be made long afterwards, if ever, as to the right or wrong of the vigilante. Compare the recent feverish online debate over whether the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO by a man who took the law into his own hands was murder, or justifiable retribution. In times of sturdy courts and rule of law and uncorruptible leaders we fortunately don’t need to concern ourselves so much with those vigilantes who act individually at the expense of the group. But when we cannot count on our leaders or our courts to adjudicate effectively, or our business leaders to police themselves or submit to reasonable regulations and standards, the risk of vigilante justice grows.