A deep-seated ambivalence has always characterized the…
““A deep-seated ambivalence has always characterized the official response to the political prisoner. Charged and tried for the criminal act, his guilt is always political in nature. This ambivalence is perhaps best captured by Judge Webster Thayer’s comment upon sentencing Bartolomeo Vanzetti to fifteen years for an attempted payroll robbery: “This man, although he may not have actually committed the crime attributed to him, is nevertheless morally culpable, because he is an enemy of our existing institutions.” (The very same judge incidentally, sentences Sacco and Vanzetti3 to death for a robbery and murder of which they were manifestly innocent.)4 It is not surprising that Nazi Germany’s foremost constitutional lawyer, Carl Schmitt, advanced the theory which generalized this a priori culpability. A thief, for example, was not necessarily one who had committed an overt act of theft, but rather one whose character renders him a thief (wer nach seinem wesen ein Dieb ist).””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Political guilt is often assigned based on perceived threat to institutions rather than actual wrongdoing.
In simple terms: Society blames people for political reasons.
Key Takeaway
Question the basis of political accusations.
Themes
politics
justice
guilt
institutional power
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
ethical
political
When to use this quote
- activism
- legal defense
- public policy
- education
Key Concepts
legal theory
moral philosophy
statecraft
Questions to Reflect On
- What safeguards protect against wrongful political guilt?
- How can institutions ensure fair trials?
A Different Perspective
Overemphasis on threat can ignore factual innocence.