Can Vigilante Justice Ever Be Justified?

 by Amelia Rahman

“Justice without mercy is cruelty. Mercy without justice is the mother of all dissolution.”

We recognize it in our most cherished avenging tales, as heroes don masks of anonymity to uphold a sort of justice that the system is unable to fulfil. In the name of taking issues into one's own hands, is it hubris and egocentricity to think one is beyond the law? 

Albeit its distinctly human characteristics, the notion of justice has been alive since antiquity in many cultures and species - a particularly notable form can be observed in the Odyssey. When Polyphemus the Cyclops is made to pay for his crude and discourteous behaviour. His punishment is justly merited and represents vengeance as an expression of justice. The concept is central to the Odyssey, and its moral and ethical principles that govern the behaviour of individuals in ancient Greek society. It is not just a core principle; but a necessity for preserving harmony and order in society.

The theory of incapacitation presumes that the state has an obligation to protect the public from potential wrongs or damage, and that such protection can only be provided through a process of imprisonment or incapacitation. With punitive violence, collateral damage and the circle of aggression is provided. As a result, it is regarded as more civilised when laws and regulations are followed by the administration of justice rather than personal grudges and selfish goals. However, we lack the sense of self-gratification that comes with retaliation because we place a higher priority on the quest of absolute justice than on psychological fulfilment. 

Most vigilante organisations are started by persons who feel they have been treated unfairly by the legal system. Nolan's Batman is a fantastic illustration of a vigilante seeking vengeance for personal wrongs. Despite being disguised as a transcendent superhero who patrols Gotham at night, achieving a certain kind of "justice," particularly because of a personal prejudice, rapidly transforms justice into vindication. Vigilantes argue that society is the true issue and that intervention from a more powerful, unyielding authority is necessary. It is a power delusion because it feeds into our ingrained sense of self-righteousness and the notion that, if we could break the law and exercise ultimate power for a brief period of time, we would be able to distinguish between good and evil.  

This doesn't feel like a path to meaningful justice, despite the fact that it is therapeutic. It keeps wrongdoing a private concern. The fact that vigilantes target the leaves while ignoring the roots is one of their key issues. They only deal with the criminals themselves and don't address the causes of crime. In the end, this is merely a "treatment," never a cure.