mob law
Crowd-imposed punishment
Mob law is justice administered by a crowd rather than courts—vigilante action taken when people believe official authorities are absent, slow, or corrupt.
The term often describes lynchings and other extrajudicial violence in American history: Under mob law, the accused never saw a trial.
The phrase implies lawlessness disguised as righteousness.
- extrajudicialOutside court authority
- kangaroo courtIllegitimate proceeding ignoring procedure
- frontier justiceExtralegal punishment in lawless regions
- wild westUnregulated, lawless environment
- rough justiceApproximate, harsh fairness
pogroms · crime · vigilante · vigilante justice · Ku Klux Klan · lynching · tar and feather · crowd psychology · Salem witch trials · punishment · brute force · retribution · riot · gallows · summary execution · vengeance · posse · hanging
mob lawdue process
Guaranteed judicial fairness
rule of law · judicial process · legal proceedings · fair trial · court of law
mob lawlegitimate authority
Accepted right to command
state authority · judicial authority · constitutional law · government authority · statutory law
law, mob, mobile, lawful, mobility, mobilize, mobs, mobilized, mobilization