Discussion Post: Vigilantism

[gen-is-gone.livejournal.com]

So, the show has had quite a few would-be vigilantes over the years (A Real Rain and Hotch's actions in 100 coming most readily to mind) but specifically in regards to Regina in Unknown Subject, there were quite a few comments saying the Emily shouldn't have deceived her, and even some that said Regina should have been allowed to murder her rapist. While I agree that the Piano Man was a despicable person, and his crimes warranted his hatred, I found slightly off-putting the idea that one of our team members would condone revenge murders, especially given the past anti-vigilante themes on the show. So my question for you is this: what stance do you think the show has taken in regards to vigilantes and revenge killers, and do you agree?

Comments

[freddie-mac.livejournal.com]

Not having any legal training at all, I was leaning towards justifiable homicide simply because Hotch was primarily acting in defense of Jack. Looking at Wikipedia, here's the definitions for both justifiable homicide and self-defense:

"A homicide can only be justified if there is evidence to suggest that it was reasonable to believe that the offending party posed an imminent threat to the life or wellbeing of another." and
"The right of self-defense ... is the right for civilians acting on their own behalf to engage in violence for the sake of defending one's own life or the lives of others, including the use of deadly force."

There appears to be significant overlap, and for our purposes these can probably be used interchangeably.

I'm surprised that Hotch's actions in "100" haven't been discussed more thoroughly before --- this is fun!

[nwjarvis.livejournal.com]

Oh, they've been discussed endlessly - just not lately.

My own take is firmly in the "self-defense" column. I don't think Hotch was thinking about whether Foyet could escape again if he was simply locked up - he was, IMO, fighting for his (and Jack's) life in the immediate moment (although at that point he didn't know whether Jack was still alive) and it was a simple question of survival.

He beat Foyet with his bare hands because that was what he had available, not as a reasoned choice. Also, there was considerable debate about the point that Foyet said "I give up" - some said that Hotch wasn't justified in continuing the fight after that point. My own opinion is that Hotch did not believe for one second that Foyet was surrendering; he was simply trying to use a ploy to regain the upper hand.


To address the main topic: I think CM has always taken the position that killing someone is a Bad Thing, even when it's necessary. It can be a little subtle, but I think the overall theme has been one of "Choose Who Lives" vs. "Choose Who Dies". (Harking all the way back to "Revelations") The bad guys, the predators, choose who dies when they pick a victim. The good guys choose who lives when they kill someone in defense of another. You can even make a connection to "Natural Born Killer". ("Some people grow up to be killers." "Some people grow up to catch them")