Mob Justice Actually ISN’T Justice
If Jose Carrasquillo is guilty of raping that 11 year old girl he deserves everything he has coming to him.
That said, I can’t rock the celebration of vigilante justice, and I can’t celebrate the beating of someone suspected, but not actually convicted, of raping someone. Not even a child.
Because sometimes the police get it wrong. Sometimes the wrong person is named for a crime.
I hope Carrasquillo IS the right guy: nobody needs a monster who preys on children roaming their neighborhood. And I sympathize with the angry, frightened residents of Kensington who caught the guy. In fact, bravo to you all for making a citizen’s arrest, and holding him until the police arrived.
But I cannot condone a mob beating the shit out of him. Because what if they were wrong? What if they beat the wrong man?
What the Daily News celebrates as “community justice” is better known as “mob justice”. And it’s nothing to be proud of.
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
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June 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
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June 8th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I’ll go further: even if Carrasquillo IS the right guy, we still shouldn’t condone the mob beating the shit out of him. Why? Because we have a justice system. This system is not perfect, by any means, but there’s at least some order, and some rules. Guess what? Having the shit beaten out of him is not actually a sanctioned punishment for the (alleged) offense in question.
Nutter’s cowardice on this one was just mind-boggling. “I don’t condone it, but (weasel weasel noises) people are frustrated”. yea, Mikey, they are: maybe in part because you are a lousy, ineffectual mayor who made ridiculous, impossible promises and can’t seem to handle your job.