I still don't think we should seek to justify the vigilante mentality.

I agree. Unless the criminal justice system is in a state of collapse at any given place or time, the government is unwilling or unable to fix it, and there's no other choice. But who is to make the decision as to whether that situation has arrived? I don't know. As in Rap's Kentucky story, I guess it comes down to a person deciding the situation is so bad that he or she has to act and accept whatever the consequences are.

There are a lot of things that the criminal law can't deal with. It's useless for dealing with someone who doesn't care what happens to him, or who feels such a strong need to take some particular action that the criminal consequences are a secondary consideration. That applies equally to the 9/11 suicide terrorists (or the others that are out there now); to the more extreme pedophiles, and to the lady in Kentucky with the .357.

P.