Essau on Negative Influence and Effects of Vigilante Justice in Society

Vigilante justice is the biggest flaw in the US justice system. Vigilante justice (Vigilantism) is implementing the law and investigating and punishing offenses and crimes without legal authority, feeling that the legal system is ineffective.  Vigilante justice is illegal, but it can be understandable. A famous example of vigilantism is Kyle Rittenhouse, who killed two men in self-defense because protesters attacked him in Kenosha, Wisconsin. These men's deaths and the use of destructive actions were unnecessary and hurt the community of Kenosha. Vigilante Justice is not a good thing for communities because it puts more lives in danger rather than saving them.

Vigilante justice is not a good thing for communities because vigilantes cause more destruction to communities than legal authorities. According to The Hill, “The Tulsa Race Riot, which took the lives of an estimated 100-300 African Americans in 1921, may have resulted from a young black man touching a young white woman’s arm in an elevator. They may have been friends – she declined to prosecute – but the vigilantes did not let this stop them from destroying a prosperous Black section of Tulsa and killing hundreds of their fellow citizens.” This quote shows that vigilantes are harmful to communities because the vigilantes killed hundreds of colored citizens even though they didn’t do anything wrong. The vigilantes felt like they needed to do something because someone, who was a person of color, touched a white woman, and they needed to take the law into their own hands and get revenge. They destroyed a whole community just because they felt like it. This severely harmed the Tulsa community.  Some might say that vigilantism is a good

thing. Some may say that Kyle Rittenhouse and many other vigilantes had a right to defend themselves and acted appropriately. After all, he was never convicted of a crime. The judges said that it was self-defense. Time after time, vigilantism has been shown to do more harm than good. Even though Rittenhouse was not convicted of a crime, the fact of the matter is that two innocent people died that day. According to AllThatIsIntresting, ”A 25-year-old karate instructor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jeff Doucet had the complete trust of his young students and their parents. But that trust was horrifically shattered on February 19, 1984, when Doucet took 11-year-old Jody Plauché on what was supposed to be a 15-minute car ride. His parents, Gary and June Plauché, were worried sick when their son didn’t return home that day — and they had good reason to be. Doucet had not only kidnapped their young son, but he was taking him to the West Coast. To avoid suspicion, Doucet shaved his beard and dyed Jody’s hair before checking into a motel in Anaheim, California. There, Doucet raped the boy multiple times until he finally allowed Jody to call his parents. The police easily traced the call and arrested Doucet, and Jody was returned to his family. Meanwhile, Jody’s father Gary Plauché drove to the airport at Baton Rouge to meet Doucet at arrivals — and kill him.”. This evidence shows that even though the father was incredibly upset about the situation, Mr. Doucet had the right to a fair trial. He had the right to a fair trial because of The Sixth Amendment. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the rights of criminal defendants, including the right to a public trial without an unnecessary wait, the right to a lawyer, the right to an unbiased jury, and the right to know who your accusers are and the nature of the charges and evidence against you. Gary Plauché let his emotions get the best of him and felt like he needed revenge and killed Mr. Doucet for raping and kidnapping his son. This was illegal because he has the right to a fair trial and the right to live. This caused more chaos than necessary and shows why vigilantes are destructive and harmful to communities. As you can see from the examples above, vigilante Justice is usually not a good thing for society.

Vigilante Justice can be detrimental to communities. According to The Conversation, “In fact, though it has been most often used to try to establish racial and economic hierarchies, vigilantism – including actual lynching – has also, at times, been used by disadvantaged communities for self-defense.” This quote proves that vigilantes use a self-defense excuse as a way to justify their actions. History has proven that vigilante justice is detrimental to society. In addition to vigilantes using self-defense as a justification, they also use race and political views as a motivation to intimidate people. According to Political Violence at Glance, “In 2020, we see both isolated incidents of vigilantism—such as in Seffner, Florida, where a Black teenager was illegally detained by a 54-year-old community member who falsely accused the teenager of breaking into cars and stealing a bike—and larger demonstrations, including the armed protests against pandemic lockdowns. The government’s lack of force in the latter cases contrasts sharply with its use of force against non-violent protests against police injustice supported by Black Lives Matter, and suggests some form of government complicity with right-wing militias.” This excerpt demonstrates that vigilantes can be racially motivated.  The community may have assumed that the teenager was breaking the law because he was black, not committing a crime.  This also demonstrates that vigilantes can sometimes use force to persuade people in the community to go along with their political ideas. This can rip apart a community. This paragraph shows that vigilantes will try almost anything to break the law.

Vigilante justice is destructive for communities because it can put innocent lives in danger and typically does nothing to solve the problems that caused the act of vigilantism itself. Vigilantes break the law to force their thoughts on others and wreak mayhem on communities. They also disobey the law to get payback on people who they believe have done bad things rather than letting the legal system do its job. It is illegal to kill and endanger people regardless of their beliefs or because you disagree with someone else’s beliefs. Despite the protections of the Constitution, the criminal justice system in the United States still suffers from one of its most serious flaws, one of which is vigilante justice. We can stop vigilante justice by increasing the presence of law enforcement in areas with high vigilantism.