RE: The Latin American Report # 392
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"...rule of law-eroding events."
I would just like to point out that lynchings do not erode the rule of law. They are not causal of that erosion, but are symptoms of the erosion of the rule of law and restoration of the rule of law in the only form available to society when formal institutions have failed. When criminals are not prevented by government and official law enforcement agencies from committing crimes against society, the rule of law is eroded. When the people themselves prevent criminals from committing crimes, the rule of law is re-established.
Government is NOT the laws it is established to uphold. It may formally codify laws, and do so well, or poorly, but society depends on lawful socialization, which government is their mutual agreement to effect. It is the failure of incompetent governments to successfully implement the rule of law that leaves to the society of people themselves such implementation of the rule of law as best they can manage informally that is the cause of the erosion of the rule of law.
Thanks!
I agree with you here, especially concerning the failure of institutions to provide sound justice in certain contexts. However, I am also thinking about the possibility that there may have been some misunderstanding in this case--we don't know all the details--, that the three executed individuals, for example, had different levels of involvement and instead obtained the same measure, and the like. I understand the furor and anger of people, especially in the face of such sensitive cases as these. Thanks always for your feedback here, my friend.