On the record
The only excuse for lynch law, which has a shadow of support in it is, that the criminal would probably otherwise be allowed to escape the punishment due to his crime.
Said by
Frederick Douglass
Source
gutenberg.orgThe only excuse for lynch law, which has a shadow of support in it is, that the criminal would probably otherwise be allowed to escape the punishment due to his crime.
Douglass critiques the only somewhat valid excuse for lynching, which is the fear of the accused escaping justice.
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For the moment the northern lamb was transformed into a lion, and his roar was terrible.
It had no interest in recognizing or preserving any of the ties that bind families together or to their homes.
The good to be sought and the evil to be shunned were flung in the balance and weighed against each other.