From: sgrimm@fpcc.net   
      
   "> >   
   > Steve, from your studies what is the story about lynchings?  More like, how   
   many   
   > people have been recognized as wronglly lynched and when was this recognized?   
   >   
   > My greatgrandfather told me about a guy that was lyched when my   
   greatgrandfather   
   > was a kid.  He said the guy got lynched for molesting kids, but later it was   
   > found out it never happened.  The guys that lynched him apparently were never   
   > convicted.   
      
   I don't know the total or percentage of people wrongly lynched.  Vigilante   
   committees   
   were notorious for lynching people to settle a grudge using trumped up   
   charges.  While   
   these groups initially provided a means of law enforcement, they evolved into   
   a political   
   click rather than a means of justice and any questioning of the groups motives   
   sometimes   
   resulted in your own demise.  The people doing the lynching had a lot of power   
   and even   
   if those people did wrong, they were not challenged.   
      
   Your point of a man molesting a child is an interesting one.  There are people   
   who claim   
   that our present society has declined because of pedophiles, men beating their   
   wives, etc.   
   However, if you read old newspapers, you see stories about kids shooting their   
   parents and other   
   crimes only associated with modern times.  While the number of crimes is   
   certainly higher (partly   
   based on "better" news coverage and less closet hiding), I doubt the   
   percentage of crimes based   
   on population is any higher.  I don't have statistics to back this statement,   
   it is just a gut feeling.   
      
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