OSWALDO
Now...
you're wanted for murder.
For the sake of my analogy, let's assme you did it.
John Ruth wants to take you back to Red Rock to stand trial for murder.
And...
you're found guilty, the people of Red Rock will hang you in the town square.
And as the hangman, l will perform the execution.
And if all those things end up taking place, that's what civilzed society calls JUSTICE!.
However if the relatives and loved ones of the person you murdered were outside that door right now.
And after busting down that door, they drug you out in the snow, and hung you up by the neck...
That would be FRONTIER JUSTICE!
Now the good part of frontier justice is it's very thirst quenching.
The bad part is it's apt to be Wrong as Right.
JOHN RUTH (to domergue)
Not in your case.
In your case, you'd have it comin' .
But other people maybe not so much.
OSWALDO
But ultimately...
what's the real difference between the two?
The real difference is ME...
The Hangman.
To me, it doesn't matter what you did.
When I hang you, I will get no satisfaction from your death.
It's my job.
I hang you in Red Rock, I move on to the next town, I hang somebody else there.
The man who pulls the lever that breaks your neck will be a dispassionate man.
And that dispassion is the very essence of justice.
For justice delivered WITHOUT dispassion, is always in danger of not being justice.