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Old 08-11-2002, 05:57 PM   #18
Kevin Wilbanks
Location: Seattle/Southern Wisconsin
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 788
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As the incident happened, I do think it is an exaggeration to say it was a society-subverting act of vigilantism. However, if he had assaulted the shoplifter, it would have been just that: assault. I'm pretty sure the law wouldn't have made any exception for the fact that he was assuming a self-appointed law-enforcer role, given what was at stake.

I think whether physical intervention by a civilian bystander is warranted really boils down to some estimation of the harm being prevented, not some absolute principle.

The loss of a videotape to the establishment doesn't seem like enough harm to warrant any kind of violent intervention. There are other options besides doing nothing: taking a picture of him, hollering 'Hey, that guy's stealing a videotape!', calling the police, observing him accurately enough to give them a good description...

If the shoplifter were an armed robber or attempting arson, for instance, most would agree that a civilian brave enough to intervene is welcomed. In fact, in Florida, if a perp pulls a gun during the robbery of a public establishment, anyone present is free to harm or kill the robber with any kind of weapon, with no legal penalties.

I agree with Deb that deeming oneself justified in beating the crap out of anyone one sees doing anything wrong is worse than doing nothing. Perhaps some one has watched a few too many Segal movies? In fact, it reminds me of a Segal parody on MadTV, where Will Sasso (as Segal) confronts a lady at a diner for putting a couple of sugar packets into her purse, goes into a righteous speech about wrongdoers and the greatness of America, and ends up throwing her across the room and breaking her neck...
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