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The Ethics of Vigilante Justice

7/9/2012

7 Comments

 
A 20-year-old recently became internet famous for punching a
man
who joked about raping a drunk girl on the street one
night.

When is it ethical--and more importantly, efficient--  for individuals to take justice into their own hands? This question is particularly salient in Ghana, where vigilante justice is a common response to crime, and that justics goes up to and includes death for perpetrators of rape or severe property crime.
Picture
Actually, I did see what you did there. And I have a machete.

Justice generally serves two economic purposes: to make an injured party whole, and to provide a disincentive against bad behavior. Vigilante justice tends to be focused on the latter. If you doubt this, just wait for the next Batman movie-- I guarantee my dear Bruce Wayne will wreak more economic havoc as the caped crusader than he will provide in redress. Vigilante justice comes at a high price, to the executioner, society, and to innocent parties who fall mistakenly fall victim to it, and is limited in the benefits it can provide. 

In order to be justified then, vigilante justice must have a very high deterrent benefit. This will generally only be the case when legal justice systems completely fail to act as deterrents to morally reprehensible acts.

It seems to me that the woman's decision to punch the rape joker fits this criteria. No court in the United States would ever provide any kind of consequence for comments like this man made. To me, the welfare gain from the chilling effect (amplified by publicity) this will have on such jokes, which quickly turn a fun night out into a stomah-clenching affair that can haunt a woman for months (if not years), clearly outweigh one guy having a sore nose for a couple weeks. 

Similarly, in Ghana, legal remedies are a poor deterrent to crime. (Especially legal remedies that are actually legal, NOT including police beating suspsects.) Even in clear cases where suspects are caught red-handed with eyewitnesses present, criminals often walk free. Two friends of mine were beaten with bricks a couple years ago, and one of the assailants was captured at the scene of the crime, but was released after several months of courtroom circus.  Death by beating, however horrific, not only provides a clear disincentive to crime but permanently removes a criminal from society.

So can vigilante justice be morally and efficiently right? Yes. Does that mean it should go unpunished? No. The fact that vigilante justice can have a high cost for falsely accused victims means that executioners must have a disincentive to engage in vigilante justice unless they are sure of its benefitcs. Punishing, or potentially punishing, perpetrators of vigilante justice provides that disincentive. So the woman who punched the joker should be potentially liable for damages, and those who engage in mob justice beyond that necessary for defense should be liable under assault laws, to prevent vigilantes from risking targeting those not truly guilty. 

This may seem like a rather extreme position; it is certainly influenced by living in situations where law enforcement seems ineffectual. However, the truth is, society engages in vigilante justice all the time. In the U.S., however, it is usually psychological, not physical: when someone cuts in line, they are often shamed, but not punched. Vigilante justice is an appropriate response to those inevitable situations where the law has no reach, but how it is exercised must be limited by disincentives against its most extreme forms.
7 Comments
Michael
7/9/2012 08:30:20 pm

I don't think there's any way that any supposed economic benefit provided by vigilante justice outweighs the negative economic consequences provided by a lack of rule of law. Without transparency, equal treatment, and predictability deterrent effects will be minimal, especially given the lack of judicial fairness and accountability provided by mob justice. Furthermore, as a replacement for a functioning police system, vigilante justice fails horribly at preventing the types of petty crime that are probably most threatening in Tamale - I've rarely seen a mob form over someone running a red light or driving at night with their lights off, but these are far greater threats to life in Tamale than murder.

The system described only deters crime in well populated areas where a mob is likely to form. This is seen in Tamale, where pickpocketing and other public crimes are unheard of, but where armed robbery, rape, and other violent crimes are common after dark.

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Liz
7/9/2012 10:12:31 pm

I completely agree-- rule of law is always preferable over vigilante justice, when it can and does exist. I am certainly not advocating lack of rule of law, and I am not letting the Tamale justice system off the hook. But I do believe that in the absence of rule of law, vigilante justice can be preferable to no justice. If you look at social enforcement as a mild form of vigilante justice, would you really argue that shaming someone for cutting in line is a bad thing? It has the same problems wrt lack of transparency-- maybe the person who cut the line was actually there but went to the bathroom, or maybe the person has a real emergency. To me it is a matter of what degree of social enforcment/vigilante justice is okay, and that is where punishment for more extreme versions of it come in.

I don't think driving without lights and mugging are appropriate comparisons-- in the first case, someone is creating risk, in the second, they are causing actual harm. The right comparison is what happens if you actually hit someone. If you drive without your lights on at night and you kill someone, a mob will likely form and beat you-- that's the deterrent to taking traffic risks.

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Naveen Kalyani link
11/22/2012 03:38:15 pm

Interesting indeed.

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visit here link
6/9/2013 08:28:32 pm

Thank you for writing about the case from Ghana. These types of incidents are rare in the globe and according to me; it is for the first time that I’m hearing an incident like this. The world is full of violence now.

Butch
6/27/2013 10:04:31 am

I am really struggling with this topic of justified vigilantly justice myself. Not for major crimes because those are usually addressed through our criminal justice system. I want to know if it can be justified for more petty crimes that don't usually get dealt with.
When I see someone has destroyed a newly planted tree or spray painted profanity in a community park, I can't help but think "this behavior can not go un-punished". I, as a member of the community, feel that this act is an assault on me personally because it has destroyed my enjoyment of the park.
Most likely these acts are caused by wayward juveniles but who is going to hold them or their parents accountable? Not the justice system because they have bigger fish to fry. So if I witness this or found out who did it, how can I personally demand satisfaction for the wrong done to me and my community and remain within the law? If there were real consequences (the wrath of the community) for committing vandalism, it would be a deterrent.
If I catch a punk spray painting my house or my car, am I justified smacking him upside the head? What if it was my next door neighbor's car? What if it was the my community park?
Nobody kicks over biker gang cycle for the fun of it. Why, because they know there will be swift, effective (and painful) vigilantly justice...deterrence.

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alysa streamate link
10/18/2013 03:45:31 pm

Just dropped by to say hello, so, hello mate!

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Ken link
5/19/2019 08:21:36 am

Interesting read.

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    About Liz

    I have worked in economic policy and research in Washington, D.C. and Ghana. My husband and I recently moved to Guyana, where I am working for the Ministry of Finance. I like riding motorcycle, outdoor sports, foreign currencies, capybaras, and having opinions. 

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