We Seem to Love Vigilantes
October 29, 2010 | 12 Comments
So that shopkeeper that tied up and forcibly confined a shoplifter? Yeah, he’s been found not guilty somehow. Y’all know where I stand on this, but it seems I may not be in the majority in the Canadian blogosphere on the topic. Both Dr. Dawg and Stageleft see this as a victory for justice. The doctor goes further suggesting that the shopkeeper should sue for malicious prosecution. I’m all for holding prosecutors accountable for their actions, but come on, the defendant committed the crime! There’s no question about that. The question is whether it should be a crime.
That being said, I will agree with Dr. Dawg that it is ridiculous that the shoplifter got a plea bargain to testify against the shopkeeper. That’s a perversion of justice.
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12 Responses to “We Seem to Love Vigilantes”
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October 29th, 2010 @ 3:06 pm
Have you heard of movies, novels or comic books? How could we not like vigilantes? They’re a cultural staple.
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October 29th, 2010 @ 3:22 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jonathan McLeod, The Commons. The Commons said: We've got a new post!: We Seem to Love Vigilantes http://thecommons-ccd.com/2010/10/we-seem-to-love-vigilantes/ [...]
October 29th, 2010 @ 3:56 pm
As I rule, I despise vigilantes. I don’t think Chen was one of them.
Having been acquitted, it’s improper to insist that he committed a crime. What he did do, as he has done in the past, was to hold a person until the police could be called. He and his friends restrained the shoplifter when he became violent.
That’s it, that’s all. The cops charged him with several offences, including carrying a concealed weapon–that was too much even for the Crown. But the other charges were clearly bogus as well. The case never should have gone to trial.
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October 29th, 2010 @ 3:57 pm
“As I rule.” Sheesh. Freudian slip, I guess. :)
Read: “As a rule…”
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October 29th, 2010 @ 7:08 pm
Yay! I was hoping the shopkeeper would get off.
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Jonathan McLeod Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 1:09 am
Dammit. There’s got to be one other blogger who agrees with me!
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Peter Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 7:21 am
I’m sure there is, Jonathan, and when we find him, we’ll put him in touch.
I’m having a lot of trouble with using the word vigilante to describe this. Some dictionary definitions seem broad enough to arguably include Chen, but others emphasize the organized nature of the phenomenon, and I think that is more in line with how most people view the word. If I come across someone beating up my kids and am perfectly within my rights to arrest him, do I become a vigilante because he has circled the street a few times before I catch him?
Actually, one blogger who seems to agree with you is SkippyStalin, who is raising the “certain” spectre of workers being expected by their employers to search out thieves and arrest them at great danger to themselves. That makes no sense at all to me. If a bank teller has always been within his/her rights to arrest the perp in a hold-up, but, as Skippy admits, bank tellers are routinely admonished severely not to try, why would a bank suddenly expect them to go out and scour the streets looking for them after the fact? Has Skippy not thought of the legal exposure an employer would face?
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Jonathan McLeod Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:12 am
Do you have a link, Peter? That does seem like a convoluted argument.
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Peter Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 10:05 am
Here. See his comments.
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Jonathan McLeod Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I’d say that I’m willing to agree with Skippy for about the first half of that post.
And, if we are to believe the comments section, Terrence Watson of The Volunteer (and the Shotgun blog) agrees with us, too.
That’s three. Pretty soon I’ll have y’all convinced!
Jonathan McLeod Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I can’t really get on board with all his predictions, however, I’ll agree with him that this development has the potential to lead to an increase in violence.
November 1st, 2010 @ 10:03 am
I agree that the acquittal was inappropriate. It is not the role of private citizens to enforce the law.
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