A Sin for the Sake of Heaven: Vigilante Heroes in Law and Culture. An Old-New Paradigm

A new vista for considering human dignity infringements that claim to be justified is introduced by drawing on a fringe concept in Jewish legal thought. To this end, two German cases are recounted. First, I consider the torture of Gäfgen, orchestrated by deputy police chief Daschner, to reveal the whereabouts of an abductee. Second, I explore the decision to strike the clause in the Luftsicherheitsgesetz (Aviation Security Act) that permitted shooting down air-planes in 9/11 situations. Antinomian critiques of these cases are spotlighted. Aspects of the reactions to the real German cases are compared to vigilante heroes in popular culture, such as Dirty Harry, Batman, Captain America, and 24‘s Jack Bauer. These characters evoke conflicting emotions: human dignity breaches should not be sanctioned, yet audiences want the hero to succeed. Tacitly their actions are approved, though they act outside the law. These cases-real and imagined-are refracted through the prism of “a sin for its own sake” (Hebrew: aveira lishmah). According to this notion, a person might be enjoined to commit a crime but is still liable for punishment. This concept is unlike justifications or excuses in criminal law, where the person who commits the act avoids sanction; “righteous transgres-sion” carries the brunt of the legal system. This concept captures the dissonance many feel as they personally and perhaps secretly cheer while institutionally they recoil from the vigilante’s abuse of human dignity. This interdisciplinary study concludes by considering whether a legal system could use a version of this Jewish law rubric when adjudicating real human dignity cases.