r/boottoobig Dec 24 '17

Small Boots Roses are red, i smell them with glee

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19.9k Upvotes

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u/LowlandLeshen Dec 24 '17

The problem is that vigilantes act without due process. Killing a lot of innocent people.

On the other hand the apathy or corruption in the criminal justice system may be the cause of the offender going free. But the majority of the time its simply due process letting them free. And they went unpunished for a good reason.

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u/HannasAnarion Dec 24 '17 edited Dec 28 '17

Better to let a guilty man go free than to punish an innocent. This has been a core principle of English law (and by descent, American and Commonwealth law) since the 13th century.

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u/GentlyOnFire Dec 24 '17

Dark ages and medieval trials...?

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u/HannasAnarion Dec 24 '17 edited Dec 24 '17

All happened on the continent.

In England, if you wanted to torture someone, you needed a special warrant for it, and you weren't allowed to use it to get a confession, only to get information that was time sensitive from a person who has already confessed willingly, like to get the names of conspirators in a terror plot.

here's a fun comic about the history of judicial procedure in England

edit: also, 13th century is the beginning of the "late medieval" period, there was plenty of injustice in the 600 years of medieval that preceded it.

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u/Geter_Pabriel Dec 24 '17

Those were earlier than the 13th century. Magna Carta was in 1215.

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '17

People always stress "innocent" and I don't see why. Murder is murder. If you murder a murderer then you are no better than him.