Good Law | Bad Law

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Paul Robinson, a Law Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the new book “Shadow Vigilantes: How distrust in the justice system breeds a new kind of lawlessness.” Paul is here today to talk about vigilantism and its impact on society.   Aaron and Paul start the episode by briefly explaining our criminal justice system; how the state or government takes on the role of plaintiff in criminal cases on behalf of the people. This responsibility makes it so citizens don’t have to be their own police force, it provides a sense of order.   When the government fails to provide justice to its citizens, or when citizens don’t believe justice has been served, they may turn to a form of vigilantism. It’s this act, the act of people taking the law into their own hands, that Paul’s book examines.   Paul explains two types of vigilantism. Classic vigilantism generally involves a