Talk:Frontier justice

Teddy Roosevelt
''Theodore Roosevelt, who would become President of the United States, captured three alleged horse thieves who had stolen a rowboat from his ranch. Roosevelt delivered the thieves to the nearest authority.''

In how far is this frontier justice (extrajudicial punishment)?--80.141.219.97 (talk) 13:34, 11 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I complete agree. It isn't. It's a citizens arrest. No punishment was meted out. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.166.105.247 (talk) 19:40, 3 February 2012 (UTC)


 * Done. If anyone wants to revert, please explain your rationale here. 174.55.184.14 (talk) 05:06, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

In regard to the western frontier in United States history
The basis for the term is completely missing from the article. Doesn't anyone else find that strange?

The reason this is known as "frontier" justice was it's employment particularly in the western frontier during the "wild west" period of United States history. There should be numerous examples cited of cases in which both lawmen and outlaws were the subjects or enforcers of this kind of justice, as the article states "in the absence of law and order" as was the case of many municipalities in the territories of the relatively unsettled* American west.

Furthermore, to say that "frontier justice" is "also called vigilante justice or street justice" demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of history. These terms are not equivalent synonyms. In particular, "street justice" has no justifiable connection to the topic of the article. Frontier justice could be said to be a form of vigilante justice and occasionally may even have been called such in its time, although there was often no standing authority to enforce legal justice where it was taking place. "Street justice" occurs exclusively in places where authorities exist, although they may not be willing or capable of enacting legal justice.


 * unsettled: This term is biased. People were living in these places, and they could say the entirety of the western movement was an extension of the European colonization of their lands.

Is my understanding of the phrase "frontier justice" incorrect?
In my mind, frontier justice has meant justice that has been carried out by the people in an unofficial and unlawful manner. An example would be: Person 1 is a farmer with a daughter, they both live out in the country. Person 1's daughter is murdered, person 1 finds the murderer, and hangs him till he is dead. That would be considered frontier justice in my book. Would that be incorrect?

I believe that the example you gave is correct, however do note that I'm not a native speaker. Amamdzsán Róbert (talk) 20:27, 13 September 2021 (UTC)