Judge, Jury, and Executioner

"Fundamentally, both eras also share an anxiety about the government's ability to keep them safe. As Barak notes, vigilante fantasies of the 1970s stemmed less from actual crime than from the feeling that the criminal justice system was ineffective. Although crime rates fell steadily between 1994 and 2005, we still face a similar unease about trusting our safety to 'the system.' New Orleans is a perfect example. When Hurricane Katrina struck, it was not the storm but the design of the levees and FEMA's response that caused so much destruction and misery. This is the one-two punch we now fear: the calamity, and then the realization that help from our institutions is not on the way."

Eric Lichtenfeld in Slate compares the vigilante movies of the 1970s with those of today.