DOCSLIB.ORG

Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications Sociology & Criminology Department 8-2007 Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences David Jacobs Ohio State University Stephanie L. Kent University of Nevada, Las Vegas Jason T. Carmichael Ohio State University - Main Campus Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clsoc_crim_facpub Part of the Criminology Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Publisher's Statement This research was partially supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant #0417736. Repository Citation Jacobs, David; Kent, Stephanie L.; and Carmichael, Jason T., "Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences" (2007). Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications. 108. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clsoc_crim_facpub/108 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Sociology & Criminology Department at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. #2462-ASR 70:4 filename:70406-Jacobs Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences David Jacobs Jason T. Carmichael Ohio State University Ohio State University Stephanie L. Kent University of Nevada, Las Vegas Capital punishment is the most severe punishment, yet little is known about the social conditions that lead to death sentences. Racial threat explanations imply that this sanction will be imposed more often in jurisdictions with larger minority populations, but some scholars suggest that a tradition of vigilante violence leads to increased death sentences. This study tests the combined explanatory power of both accounts by assessing statistical interactions between past lynchings and the recent percentage of African Americans after political conditions and other plausible effects are held constant. Findings from count models based on different samples, data, and estimators suggest that racial threat and lynchings combine to produce increased death sentences, but the presence of liberal political values explains the absence of death sentences. These findings both confirm and refine the political version of conflict theory because they suggest that the effects of current racial threat and past vigilantism largely directed against newly freed slaves jointly contribute to current lethal but legal reactions to racial threat. s there a connection between lynchings and administered in a color-blind fashion, findings Irecent attempts to impose the death penalty? about offender race have been inconsistent (see Many studies have analyzed individual trial Dodge et al. 1990 and Paternoster 1991 for court decisions to discover whether racial dis- reviews). These studies, however, may be incon- crimination influences the likelihood of a death clusive because they ignore the remarkable his- sentence. After holding legal effects constant, tory of race relations in the United States. such as the severity of the crime and the offend- In comparison to other nations, U.S. race relations have been exceptionally antagonistic er’s prior convictions, these studies have used and violent (Myrdal 1944; Tocqueville [1935] offender race to explain death sentences. Despite 1948). After African American slaves were freed strong suspicions that the death penalty is not by a brutal Civil War, white citizens sought to maintain the prior racial caste system with ille- gal violence directed largely against ex-slaves. Direct all correspondence to David Jacobs, From 1882 to 1951, more than 4,600 persons Department of Sociology, 300 Bricker, 190 North were lynched (Tolnay and Beck 1996). Although Oval Mall, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH most of these acts took place in the South from 43210. The authors thank Bob Kaufman, Jim Moody, 1882 to 1930, many occurred in other regions Bob O’Brien, and Ruth Peterson for their helpful during this period. In the Jim Crow South, a set advice, and Stuart Tolnay and Andrew Hanssen for the data they supplied. All data used in this study and of social and legal codes enforced by legal coer- in unreported analyses mentioned in this article are cion and vigilantism ensured the separation of available on request. This research was partially sup- the races and almost complete black subjugation ported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant (Wacquant 2000). Many scholars have claimed #0417736. that the current death penalty is a partial replace- #2462-ASR 70:4 filename:70406-Jacobs ment for vigilantism used in the past to main- likely to impose this sentence than others. We tain this caste system (Bowers 1984; Dollard begin to fill this gap in the literature by using 1957; Marable 2000; Phillips 1987). This claim pooled time-series, cross-sectional count mod- seems plausible because the states that once els that capture both jurisdictional differences had the highest lynching rates now appear to use in this outcome and shifts in the number of the death sentence most often (Zimring 2003). death sentences over time.1 We study death sen- Yet despite the extraordinary nature of this vio- tences rather than executions for important lence, the effects of lynchings have been infre- methodological reasons (see note 6), but also quently investigated. because the initial decisions to begin the death In this study we attempt to fill this gap by penalty process by prosecutors and trial courts focusing on whether the vigilantism used pri- are so important. Because single-factor expla- marily to control ex-slaves created an enduring nations are suspect, we assess many hypotheses, repressive tradition that continues to produce additional death sentences where lynchings had but this means the next section cannot deal with been most common. Theoretical accounts sug- the theoretical justifications for only a few gest that such explanations should matter. Stone explanations. (1987) claimed that the death penalty was used by powerful groups to protect their privileges THEORY with selective terror. Garland (1990) argued that criminal punishment is shaped not only by We expect that the historical residue of the ran- the amount or severity of crime, but also by corous and violent conflicts about slavery still perceptions about the menace of “problem pop- influences the ultimate criminal punishment. ulations.” According to conflict theorists, an To address this issue, we assess the combined important, but not the only, use of the law is to ability of lynchings and current black threat to control underclass populations who pose a threat explain recent death sentences. In additional to the current unequal social order. If criminal analyses, we discover whether this joint effect punishments are shaped partly by the menace of explains African American death sentences and a racial underclass whose members have much whether this effect accounts for these sentences to gain from violence used to take goods from in 10 southern states. We begin by discussing the privileged, a harsh punishment such as the lynchings and the reasons why this historical death sentence should be more likely where violence should continue to influence recent such threats are most severe. death sentences. We next spell out the theoret- We analyze recent death sentences to dis- ical grounds for expecting a connection between cover whether the vigilantism directed largely racial threat and criminal punishment. The last against blacks in the past and current racial part of this section presents the reasons for threats to white dominance attributable to larg- thinking that other effects should be held con- er black populations operate together to produce stant in the analyses. additional death sentences. Evidence for such a combined relationship between prior vigilan- tism and recent minority threat would support claims that the death sentence is currently 1 In 1972 in Furman the Supreme Court ruled that imposed partly because it is a legal and there- the death penalty was unconstitutional. In 1976, in fore more acceptable replacement for lynch- Gregg the Court reversed and upheld the constitu- ings. These considerations suggest that death tionality of guided discretionary statutes combined sentences should be especially likely in states with a separate sentencing procedure. To achieve with the largest minority populations that also cross trial court sentencing equity the Court required had a history of frequent vigilante violence. standardized instructions to juries listing aggravating or mitigating factors to be considered in the separate In light of the intense interest in the death penalty hearing (Paternoster 1991). Most death penal- penalty and the controversies about whether ty states then altered their statutes to meet these new this punishment is administered impartially, it requirements. We include period controls to capture is surprising that we know so little about the shifts in death sentences attributable to these decisions influence of race and the other social condi- and other unmeasured historical events that might tions that make some jurisdictions far more influence the results. #2462-ASR 70:4 filename:70406-Jacobs MINORITY THREAT, VIGILANTISM, interchangeability of legal and extralegal reac- AND DEATH SENTENCES tions to racial threat in the past are correct, a tra- dition of lethal vigilantism may still help LETHAL VIGILANTISM. A common dominant produce
Load more

Recommended publications
  • War on the Mexican Drug Cartels
    THE WAR ON MEXICAN CARTELS OPTIONS FOR U.S. AND MEXICAN POLICY-MAKERS POLICY PROGRAM CHAIRS Ken Liu Chris Taylor GROUP CHAIR Jean-Philippe Gauthier AUTHORS William Dean Laura Derouin Mikhaila Fogel Elsa Kania Tyler Keefe James McCune Valentina Perez Anthony Ramicone Robin Reyes Andrew Seo Minh Trinh Alex Velez-Green Colby Wilkason RESEARCH COORDINATORS Tia Ray Kathryn Walsh September 2012 Final Report of the Institute of Politics National Security Student Policy Group THE WAR ON MEXICAN CARTELS OPTIONS FOR U.S. AND MEXICAN POLICY-MAKERS POLICY PROGRAM CHAIRS Ken Liu Chris Taylor GROUP CHAIR Jean-Philippe Gauthier AUTHORS William Dean Laura Derouin Mikhaila Fogel Elsa Kania Tyler Keefe James McCune Valentina Perez Anthony Ramicone Robin Reyes Andrew Seo Minh Trinh Alex Velez-Green Colby Wilkason RESEARCH COORDINATORS Tia Ray Kathryn Walsh September 2012 Final Report of the Institute of Politics 2 National Security Student Policy Group Institute of Politics ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY GROUP The Institute of Politics is a non-profit organization located in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. It is a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, and its mission is to unite and engage students, particularly undergraduates, with academics, politicians, activists, and policymakers on a non-partisan basis and to stimulate and nurture their interest in public service and leadership. The Institute strives to promote greater understanding and cooperation between the academic world and the world of politics and public affairs. Led by a Director, Senior Advisory Board, Student Advisory Committee, and staff, the Institute provides wide-ranging opportunities for both Harvard students and the general public.
    [Show full text]
  • Vigilantism V. the State: a Case Study of the Rise and Fall of Pagad, 1996–2000
    Vigilantism v. the State: A case study of the rise and fall of Pagad, 1996–2000 Keith Gottschalk ISS Paper 99 • February 2005 Price: R10.00 INTRODUCTION South African Local and Long-Distance Taxi Associa- Non-governmental armed organisations tion (SALDTA) and the Letlhabile Taxi Organisation admitted that they are among the rivals who hire hit To contextualise Pagad, it is essential to reflect on the squads to kill commuters and their competitors’ taxi scale of other quasi-military clashes between armed bosses on such a scale that they need to negotiate groups and examine other contemporary vigilante amnesty for their hit squads before they can renounce organisations in South Africa. These phenomena such illegal activities.6 peaked during the1990s as the authority of white su- 7 premacy collapsed, while state transfor- Petrol-bombing minibuses and shooting 8 mation and the construction of new drivers were routine. In Cape Town, kill- democratic authorities and institutions Quasi-military ings started in 1993 when seven drivers 9 took a good decade to be consolidated. were shot. There, the rival taxi associa- clashes tions (Cape Amalgamated Taxi Associa- The first category of such armed group- between tion, Cata, and the Cape Organisation of ings is feuding between clans (‘faction Democratic Taxi Associations, Codeta), fighting’ in settler jargon). This results in armed groups both appointed a ‘top ten’ to negotiate escalating death tolls once the rural com- peaked in the with the bus company, and a ‘bottom ten’ batants illegally buy firearms. For de- as a hit squad. The police were able to cades, feuding in Msinga1 has resulted in 1990s as the secure triple life sentences plus 70 years thousands of displaced persons.
    [Show full text]
  • New Study Indicates Growing Support for Vigilante Justice in Latin America | Security Assistance Monitor
    4/7/2015 New Study Indicates Growing Support for Vigilante Justice in Latin America | Security Assistance Monitor enter search words here View Site by Region Global English Countries Programs Data Resources Regions Our Work Blog About New Study Indicates Growing Support for Vigilante Justice SHARE THIS in Latin America 04/03/15 Gabrielle Acierno Latin America and the Caribbean U.S. Aid, Justice System SHARE THIS / Like Across Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of people supporting the use of vigilantism, an indicator of distrust in law enforcement and judicial institutions, is significantly increasing according to a recent study by Vanderbilt University’s Latin American Public Opinion Project. Although the study, which is based on surveys from 2004 and 2014, shows that most people throughout the Americas do not support vigilantism, the findings highlight challenges in U.S. security assistance to many countries in Latin American and the Caribbean. Citizen self­defense or vigilante groups have sprung up throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, taking arms to fight organized crime where many believe governments and institutions have failed. The results have typically bred more instability. A recent InSight Crime article indicates Latin America’s history boasts ample examples of how vigilantism often leads to more violence, from Colombia’s paramilitary groups, to Venezuela’s urban militias, to Mexico’s ‘autodefensa’ phenomena, to police militias in Brazil and police death squads in El Salvador and Honduras. In turbulent states like Michoacán, Mexico, organized citizen defense groups (“autodefensas”) rose up in 2013, frustrated with the government’s ineptitude at reining in violence and cartel influence.
    [Show full text]
  • Vigilantism 1 POLICE LEGITIMACY and SUPPORT for VIGILANTE VIOLENCE in PAKISTAN JUSTICE TANKEBE Institute of Criminology Univ
    Vigilantism 1 POLICE LEGITIMACY AND SUPPORT FOR VIGILANTE VIOLENCE IN PAKISTAN JUSTICE TANKEBE Institute of Criminology University of Cambridge MUHAMMAD ASIF Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore, Pakistan * Direct correspondence to Justice Tankebe, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA, U.K. (email: [email protected]). Vigilantism 2 POLICE LEGITIMACY AND SUPPORT FOR VIGILANTE VIOLENCE IN PAKISTAN Abstract Bottoms and Tankebe (2012) recently analyzed the multidimensional nature of police legitimacy and made an argument for its relevance to social order. A few studies have tested the predictive value of their model in explaining everyday legal compliance and support for the police. Using survey data from three communities of varying socio-economic conditions in Pakistan, this paper examines the links between the multiple dimensions of police legitimacy and support for vigilante violence. The findings show overall high levels of support for vigilantism. Regression analysis shows that experiences of police illegality consistently predict support for vigilantism across the three communities. Aspects of procedural justice – specifically, perceived quality of police decisionmaking – predict support for vigilantism in some conditions but not others. Contrary to expectations, quality of interpersonal treatment by police and police effectiveness do not explain support for vigilantism. We also found no evidence to show that feelings of obligation to obey the police mediates the influence of police legitimacy on vigilante support. The implications of these findings are discussed. Key words: legitimacy, vigilantism, lawfulness, procedural justice, corruption, dialogic legitimacy Vigilantism 3 In November 2008, residents in a neighbourhood in Karachi apprehended three men suspected of robbery, beat them up, doused them with petrol and burned them.
    [Show full text]
  • The Philippines' War on Drugs (Read: the Poor)
    INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM | WORKING PAPER SERIES VOL 8 | NO. 1 | FALL 2020 The Philippines’ War on Drugs (Read: The Poor): The Erosion of the Rule of Law and the Violation of Children’s Human Rights Kathleen Barera ABOUT CHRLP Established in September 2005, the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP) was formed to provide students, professors and the larger community with a locus of intellectual and physical resources for engaging critically with the ways in which law affects some of the most compelling social problems of our modern era, most notably human rights issues. Since then, the Centre has distinguished itself by its innovative legal and interdisciplinary approach, and its diverse and vibrant community of scholars, students and practitioners working at the intersection of human rights and legal pluralism. CHRLP is a focal point for innovative legal and interdisciplinary research, dialogue and outreach on issues of human rights and legal pluralism. The Centre’s mission is to provide students, professors and the wider community with a locus of intellectual and physical resources for engaging critically with how law impacts upon some of the compelling social problems of our modern era. A key objective of the Centre is to deepen transdisciplinary — 2 collaboration on the complex social, ethical, political and philosophical dimensions of human rights. The current Centre initiative builds upon the human rights legacy and enormous scholarly engagement found in the Universal Declartion of Human Rights. ABOUT THE SERIES The Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP) Working Paper Series enables the dissemination of papers by students who have participated in the Centre’s International Human Rights Internship Program (IHRIP).
    [Show full text]
  • Killings by Non-State Actors and Affirmative State Obligations
    KILLINGS BY NON-STATE ACTORS AND AFFIRMATIVE STATE OBLIGATIONS This chapter of the Handbook addresses a wide variety of situations in which killings by non-state actors can nonetheless implicate the State to some degree, or invoke responsibilities on its part. The right to life includes not only a prohibition on illegal killings by State authorities, but also entails State obligation is to adequately protect this right and punish violations of it by non-state actors. In situations of widespread killings, or traditions which tend towards regular violence against a particular portion of the population, States can be held responsible for failure to adequately address systemic causes, for instance, through efforts to protect vulnerable populations, improve education, address impunity, or correct perceived inadequacies in law enforcement and the justice system which lead to vigilantism. A. LEGAL BASIS OF RESPONSIBILITY OF STATES FOR VIOLATIONS BY NON-STATE ACTORS ....................................................................................................................... 2 B. KILLINGS BY ARMED OPPOSITION GROUPS ......................................................... 10 C. MANDATE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR AND ADDRESSING KILLINGS BY ARMED OPPOSITION GROUPS .............................................................. 22 D. DUE DILIGENCE AND INTER-COMMUNAL/ETHNIC VIOLENCE ............... 25 E. KILLINGS BY VIGILANTES AND MOB JUSTICE ................................................... 29 F. KILLINGS OF “WITCHES” ..................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Blood Feuds and Revenge in Canons and Medieval Statutes and Social Consequences
    E-ISSN 2281-4612 Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies Vol 4 No 3 ISSN 2281-3993 MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy November 2015 Blood Feuds and Revenge in Canons and Medieval Statutes and Social Consequences Aferdita Tepshi Doctorate at the European University of Tirana Doi:10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n3p199 Abstract In this paper as object of this publication is the phenomenon of blood feud murders as a medieval phenomenon, which continues to accompany the life of the Albanian nation in modern times bringing loss of life and other negative consequences in the society. I purposefully chose this topic as a subject of study in this paper, by noticing the serious consequences that brings the blood feud, and I thought as valuable to investigate, draw conclusions, by stating the reasons and consequences of this medieval phenomenon and to submit my opinions related to this phenomenon. Through this study i want to point out the flow of this medieval phenomenon, reflecting its negative side as well as the consequences of this phenomenon, the tendency of this phenomenon nowdays, the work of the state authorities and non-governmental social organizations to mitigate this phenomenon, always in the service of life and freedom of the individual. Murders are the most serious crimes that affect the human right to live, as a fundamental human right protected by a number of international acts such as the Universal Declaration of the General Assembly of the UN (1948), the European Convention (1950), the Constitution of the Republic of Albania etc. Martin Luterking said (4th april 1968) “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important” Albanian scholars in Albania starting from the basic thesis that blood feud murders are social historical phenomena that have appeared since ancient times, in pre-state formations and blood feud was the only way of protection of certain social groups, a phenomenon which over time is replaced by the State and its structures.
    [Show full text]
  • Extra Judicial Killings: a Reflection of Failing in Criminal Justice System
    South East Asia Journal of Contemporary Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 12, Issue 4 (April) ISSN 2289-1560 2017 EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLINGS: A REFLECTION OF FAILING IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. 1 NASIR, MARUF ADENIYI ABSTRACT The recent incidents of killings in many developing countries call for a serious appraisal of the administration of criminal justice with regards to the concepts of punishment. Besides killings that is politically motivated and the use of state apparatus to execute perceived enemies and alleged criminals, the public have equally been invested with self-help oriented killings. Lynching of alleged offenders has become the order of the day, people now careless about the judicial process; mob attacks and other form of lawlessness remain unabated as public brutality triumph against the due process of law. The trend now assumes a more dangerous dimension as it has graduated from a personal concept of an eye for an eye syndrome to a community organized event such as the recent killings or the lynching of the “UNIPORT” students which was regarded as a community event, also a young person was burnt to death by a mob attack in Orile-Iganmu area of Lagos State recently for allegedly stealing of a phone. These happenings are worrisome and it is indeed an indication of a systematic collapse or failings of the Criminal Justice System. How does the situation degenerate to this hopeless situation? What are those things that led to this great depravity in our justice system? Why are the citizens taking laws into their hands by lynching and engaging in other barbarities? These and other unresolved questions that make National Policy on Criminal Justice to remain incoherent are of particular scope of this paper.
    [Show full text]
  • Anger and Support for Retribution in Mexico's Drug
    Anger and Support for Retribution in Mexico’s Drug War ⇤ § Omar García-Ponce† Lauren Young‡ Thomas Zeitzoff September 12, 2019 Abstract How does exposure to violence shape attitudes towards justice and the rule of law? We argue that anger following violence increases the demand for retribution, even at the expense of the rule of law. We test this theory using three observational and experimental studies from an original survey of 1,200 individuals in Western Mexico, a region affected by organized crime and vigilantism. We first show that individuals exposed to more violence are angrier and more supportive of punitive justice, including vigilantism. Second, both experiments show that citizens are more supportive of harsh punishments, and place less value on their legality, for morally outrageous violence. Third, the innocence of the victim has a stronger effect on anger and punitiveness than the severity of the violence. Our findings suggest that individual emotional reactions to violence—particularly against civilians—can lead to cycles of retribution that undermine the rule of law and perpetuate insecurity. ⇤Our deepest thanks to Abraham Aldama, Hannah Baron, Vincent Bauer, Alberto Díaz-Cayeros, Ashley Fabrizio, Cecilia Farfan, Saad Gulzar, Daniel Hirschel-Burns, Haemin Jee, Stathis Kalyvas, Risa Kitagawa, Beatriz Magaloni, Eduardo Moncada, David Shirk, and seminar participants at MPSA, APSA, Stanford, Essex, USC, UC Davis, MIT, Uppsala, NYU, Vanderbilt, Yale, UCSD, UC Merced, and GWU, for comments and suggestions at various stages of this project. We also thank Buendía & Laredo for managing the data collection. Isabel Mejía Fontanot and Julio Solís Arce provided excellent research assistance. †Assistant Professor, George Washington University.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction: Vigilantism and the Policing of Everyday Life in South Africa
    African Studies, 63, 2, December 2004 mm Carfax Publishing '' ^IIIW Taylor 6. Frands Croup Introduction: Vigilantism and the Policing of Everyday Life in South Africa Lars Buur Nordic Africa institute, Wits institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand and Steffen Jensen University of Rosl<iide, Wits Institute for Sociai and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand Since the emergence of People Against Gangsterism And Drugs (PAGAD) and Mapogo a Mathamaga^ in 1996, media, law enforcement and some research- based NGOs (see for instance Pigou et al. 2001) have shown an increasing preoccupation with vigilante organisations and their relationship with the post- apartheid South African state. By contrast, with a few notable exceptions (such as Ritchken 1995), academics seem largely to have shunned the phenomenon of vigilantism in South Africa as a hostile and anachronistic interloper in the new nation-state with its human rights oriented constitution. Law enforcement agencies do not have the option of ignoring the phenomenon. However, they have been markedly ambiguous in their responses, ranging from all-out war against the organisations, as with PAGAD, to more accommodating approaches, as those towards a number of local crime-fighting formations^ in townships and in rural areas (Jensen forthcoming; Buur 2003a). The state's response has centred on the violence that vigilante organisations use and on the challenge they pose to the state itself. While the ANC government is attempting to revive the South African state's legitimacy, vigilantism has exposed the limits of the new state's capacity to secure justice for all, as well as the limited reach of the new values of human rights and non-violence.
    [Show full text]
  • Law and Order Do Not Always Go Together. Vigilantism As Citizens Attempt to Enforce Order Outside the Law Is Rising
    “Law and order do not always go together. Vigilantism as citizens attempt to enforce order outside the law is rising. Comprehensive studies about the phe- nomenon have been lacking. The 17 case studies and the conceptual and com- parative discussion by the editors go a long way to fill the void. A must read in these times of rising populism and xenophobia.” - Prof. em. Alex P. Schmid, Editor-in-Chief of ‘Perspectives on Terrorism’ and former Officer-in-Charge of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of UNODC. “Theoretically astute, empirically sound, this volume is the authoritative source on the growing phenomena of vigilantism around the world. This study is essential reading for anyone who is interested in understanding the changing nature of coercion, and the shifting relations of social and political order in the 21st century.” - James Sheptycki, York University, Canada. “Vigilantism poses a serious threat to democracy. It is therefore an important, yet understudied phenomenon in criminology. This edited volume raises important issues regarding the conditions under which different kinds of vigilantism emerge. Using case studies from different countries, this edited volume provides challenging new insights which are of importance to both academics and policy makers.” - Prof. Lieven Pauwels, Ghent University, Belgium. “This book is richly researched and extremely timely. The spread of vigilantism in our increasingly fractured world should stimulate debate about the nature and significance of state power, whether ‘private’ vigilante actors are in fact detached from their governments, and when right-wing vigilantism becomes a necessary component of state Fascist operations.” - Prof. Martha K. Huggins, Tulane University (emerita), USA.
    [Show full text]
  • Police Vigilantism in the Philippines
    PRIF Report No. 142 „If they resist, kill them all“: Police Vigilantism in the Philippines Peter Kreuzer the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) 2016 Correspondence to: PRIF Baseler Str. 27–31 D-60329 Frankfurt am Main Telephone: +49(0)69 95 91 04-0 Fax: +49(0)69 55 84 81 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.prif.org ISBN: 978-3-946459-11-8 € 10.00 Summary In May of 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was elected President of the Philippines and inaugurated into office on June 30. During the election campaign he was already focusing on ridding the country of drug-related crime and indicated his willingness to tolerate, if not support, the killing of suspects by the police. After entering office, he officially launched a compre- hensive campaign against drug-related crime that has since cost the lives of several thou- sand suspects. While anonymous vigilantes are responsible for a significant share, if not the majority of these extralegal killings, in four months the police killed more than 1,000 suspects in so-called “legitimate encounters” that were justified as actions carried out in self-defense. This report then looks at a vastly under-researched phenomenon: extrajudicial police vigilantism involving killings by on-duty police officers that are masked as “legitimate encounters” with criminals. It argues that, while the Philippines have a strong tradition of death-squad killings, this has been complemented for a long time by a practice of “social cleansing” that did not make it necessary for agents of the state to deny complicity: official police vigilantism.
    [Show full text]