We're talking alleged child-rapist still walking around the streets here at the time he was apprehended. I won't pretend that I'm putting away my I-have-two-daughters perspective for two seconds. The incident should still be viewed in the context of the situation. The suspect was wanted for questioning related to the violent rape of an eleven-year-old girl. He's an alleged violent offender who told a little girl he had a gun, took her into an alley and raped her. Any time that he's on the street, he's a threat to society's safety. He was stopped on the street before the video by others who recognized him. He kept going. Even in the video, did he stop? He didn't surrender. I guess he believes that he doesn't have to surrender, but when he doesn't, shouldn't he expect some flack. His presence on the street is an afront to the this girl and her family. Her neighbors took it upon themselves to find him and did what they had to do to subdue him. Nothing more, nothing less. Fortunately, it resulted in a split skull for him.

As for Mayor Nutter pandering to a mob, I'd vehemently disagree that this is pandering. It's called empathy from a man with a young daughter. He said he doesn't condone vigilantism, but he understands what happened here. Nothing that he says is cowardly. Had Mayor Nutter pandered to those who believe that the people on Front Street who apprehended this man did something wrong, all six of them, I think that would have been cowardly. He would clearly be pandering to those people who live life in a bubble where a legal textbook is consulted before anyone can act, where rapists just waltz into jail after committing their crimes.

Mayors and elected officials should reflect the ideals of society. Of course, the alleged rapist deserves to be tried and represented. That is a societal ideal, reflected by the Mayor's statements. However, society also deserves to be protected from him when he chooses to commit his crime and strut around unfettered, ostensibly mocking the victim in her own community. In the absence of the police at that moment, the community ideal is action to ensure that the crime doesn't happen again. The mayor recognized that ideal as well.

It's easy to play William Kuntsler from afar and judge the people on Front street, but it's silly to think that the kind of action seen here could or should be avoided. Violent child-rape is about as bad as it gets. It makes blood boil at least in people with a pulse. It destroys lives. Aside from a few true believers, I'd be shocked to find very many on Mr. Bunch's side. If this costs me a progressive card, fine. I wouldn't want to live in a world where this alleged rapist didn't get some of the business from the people of my neighborhood.

Nutter's tenure parallels Obama's thus far...

Yes there is a little bit of political "playing to the mob" going on here but it has very little directly to do with the city's budget woes certainly. I know this sounds weird to some but there are lots of people in Philly who still to this day idealize the legacy of Frank Rizzo for all the worst reasons. They hated the appointment of Everett Gillison and supported "stop and frisk" exactly as the cartoonish lampoon many of its laziest critics would portray it as. They were mad that anybody was disciplined at all in video tape beating incident of more than a year ago. They feel crime is taking over our city and they see Nutter as a nerdish ineffective technocraat when they want a "strong man" who will implement something close to martial law in Philly's rougher neighborhoods.

We progressives sometimes politely like to dismiss how many people in this town feel that way, but there are a lot of them. I think Nutter was partly probably unconsciously appeasing them and partly just being the politician on auto-pilot turning every incident into in this case awkward and tone deaf "rah, rah" bit of boosterism.

I'm more concerned in a way about the mass appeal of the mob mentality which in effect forces politicans to play their tune than Nutter the politicians awkward response to it. Many people don't believe or trust this city's justice system because they have or know people who have had negative experiences with it as victims of crime.

It reminds me

1. more than a campaign slogan our criminal justice system is in many ways really actually "broken" and Seth Williams has his work cut out for him convincing a lot of regular Philadelphians that the system will work in their interest and protect them

2. Did I mention that while the city is looking at being forced to scale back what it can afford to pump into the courts, leading to possibility yet worse congestion in the criminal justice system, SB850, the State Senate budget slashes state contribution to running county courts significantly.In fact Rendell's budget had already trimmed them. From that PA Budget and Policy Center analysis everyone should look at:

State reimbursement for county court costs are cut by $1.2 million from the Governor’s plan and $3.2 million from 2008-09.

And both of those budgets were based on old revenue projections, which are now 15% worse.

Contributions to corrections and parole also takes a hit.

The Governor proposed $1.8 billion in Corrections spending in FY 2009-10, which included some federal stimulus dollars. The Senate plan maintains funding for state prisons, but reduces state funding for all other programs within the Department of Corrections by 10%, including inmate health care (8.5%) and inmate education and training (16.5%). With the inmate population expected to increase by 1,950 in the coming fiscal year and health care costs continuing to rise, the Senate plan's cuts all but guarantee less access to health care for incarcerated people under the state’s supervision, which could lead to higher health care costs in future years as once easily treated problems worsen.

The State Police would be cut by $16 million, and Probation and Parole by $10 million. Total state funding for the Judiciary would decline by $12 million.

In other words, a lot of people in Philly already find the criminal justice unresponsive, cumbersome, inefficient - they don't believe in it because of bad experiences and in terms of its budget constraints it likely getting squeezed from both sides soon and things may get worse before those shortcomings get better.
-Sean
MrLuigi, my cat, actually only types half as badly as I do.

can we talk about McNesby of the FOP basically saying mob justice should be rewarded, the bigger the mob the better.

In fact, those who stopped Carrasquillo on Clearfield Street near Lee Street and eventually beat him into the hospital stand to share a $10,000 reward offered by the Fraternal Order of Police.

The money will be disbursed once Carrasquillo is formally charged with the rape and investigators identify those who "stepped up" to detain him, FOP president John McNesby said.

"If we have to pay 10,000 people a dollar each, we'll do that," he said.

To shower the praise and not draw a line between detaining someone to hand them over to the authorities and beating in their skull with a board is in a sense to undervalue the professionalism of the good people McNesby represents. McNesby, not just Ramsey, should be the one saying that while its good to help catch criminals, justice is best dispensed by trained professionals acting within constitutional guidelines. Cops should be well-paid, well-trained professionals for a reason and its wrong for the FOP to be off-point on that message.

-Sean
MrLuigi, my cat, actually only types half as badly as I do.

What if they got the wrong guy?

you might think it's wrong to perform abortions, but assassinating the doctor is still very very wrong.

you might think it's wrong to rape a child (most of us do!), but assassinating the rapist is still very very wrong.

we have a legal system, to keep us from turning into vigilantes and terrorists, from punishing the wrong person, from terrorizing those with whom we disagree, and to make sure that punishment is just that, not vengeance. it should be easy to make this parallel, easy to condemn people's taking "justice" into their own hands.

acm

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
— Margaret Mead

I was not really justifying this from a parental perspective, more from a heat-of-the moment perspective. Personally, I think many of the comments that have condemned the vigilantes have failed to take into account the actual scene and the circumstance of the alleged rapist's capture.
Sure the rule of law has to rule, but in this case, circumstances led to a bending of it. I guess I put an indefensible position out there from a techincal standpoint, perhaps an emotional one.

Also, my original posts were in reaction to Will Bunch's characterizations of the mayor's statements.