Lynching Laws
By: Jessica Currah, Makayla Doby, and Fernanda Roa
Lynching is a form of violence in which a mob, under the appearance of administering justice without trial, assassinates a person who assumes and breaks the laws, often after inflicting torture and harsh unnecessary punishment. The term lynch law refers to a self-established court that penalizes sentence on a person without fair treatment of law. Both terms are obtained from the name of Charles Lynch (1736–96), a Virginia planter and justice of the peace who, during the American Revolution, lead an irregular court made to punish loyalists.