Is he a hero, or a villain?

Vigilante Travels World to Save Kids

I found this news story humorous and depressing at the same time; I worry about the child's mindset. What if the kid doesn't want to leave?

Regardless, I found this story interesting to say the least. Post your thoughts, discuss.

Do you think this man is doing a good thing, or a bad thing?

The world needs more people like him, in my opinion.

Its pretty damn illegal, and there's a few morally wrong things about counter kidnapping, but he gets the job done., and ends up doing (what I believe) is the (mostly) right thing.

And I bet he's done some badass stuff in his day. HOO-RAH, BABY SAVER.

a righteous renegade, like we need any more of them in the world. this man is terrible, subverting laws and even breaking them even if they are international, I sympathize with the American parents who have been awarded custody and think that they should get their kids back but stealing the kids back if the system is not working for you is not an ok thing >=/

Originally Posted by Notsil

The world needs more people like him, in my opinion.

Its pretty damn illegal, and there's a few morally wrong things about counter kidnapping, but he gets the job done., and ends up doing (what I believe) is the (mostly) right thing.

And I bet he's done some badass stuff in his day. HOO-RAH, BABY SAVER.

In the situation you're thinking of, I absolutely agree with you. What worries me is abusive situations where the parent does not feel safe and flees the country. The child protection system isn't as good as it makes itself up to be--I've seen people who were blatantly in an abusive household left to live there because the inspector thought there "wasn't enough evidence" and the "parents seemed nice".

Imagine if the parent who won custody was highly abusive and the responsible parent tried to protect the child by taking it to another country. This has happened in the past.

Originally Posted by kreebby

In the situation you're thinking of, I absolutely agree with you. What worries me is abusive situations where the parent does not feel safe and flees the country. The child protection system isn't as good as it makes itself up to be--I've seen people who were blatantly in an abusive household left to live there because the inspector thought there "wasn't enough evidence" and the "parents seemed nice".

Imagine if the parent who won custody was highly abusive and the responsible parent tried to protect the child by taking it to another country. This has happened in the past.

Well, thats the situation where I hope Zamora has his facts straight before he goes in on a job. That kinda situation is tough to judge, you know?

Originally Posted by Notsil

Well, thats the situation where I hope Zamora has his facts straight before he goes in on a job. That kinda situation is tough to judge, you know?

Agreed. It's tough to make a judgment from just one or two meetings with a person. Maybe when he gets to the other country the other parent explains the truth and he allows them to keep the child.

Tough call. I say I support him because I think what he's doing is right in a way. The legal implications complicate it a bit though. But just think, if it wasn't illegal and he wasn't an actual vigilante, would it still be that bad?

Originally Posted by sage_of_fire

But just think, if it wasn't illegal and he was an actual vigilante, would it still be that bad?

Your first point defeats the second. If it wasn't illegal, he wouldn't be a vigilante, and if it wasn't illegal, I'm assuming this would be a market that was tapped into, probably by mercenaries of some sort.

Originally Posted by Avalanchemike

Your first point defeats the second. If it wasn't illegal, he wouldn't be a vigilante, and if it wasn't illegal, I'm assuming this would be a market that was tapped into, probably by mercenaries of some sort.

Oops, that was actually a typo. I meant wasn't, corrected.

Originally Posted by Mr. 32

a righteous renegade, like we need any more of them in the world. this man is terrible, subverting laws and even breaking them even if they are international, I sympathize with the American parents who have been awarded custody and think that they should get their kids back but stealing the kids back if the system is not working for you is not an ok thing >=/

if the system is not working, then the system has no moral claim to authority

Originally Posted by Captain Cornflake

if the system is not working, then the system has no moral claim to authority

I would start some epic, never-ending debate on the concept of morals, but this is GCC and I don't want to have a headache right now.

just remember the phrase 'death to america' and that will automatically answer all of your questions

You people that say he's doing something wrong do realize that these children have been kidnapped, right? All he's doing is finding the children and bringing them back. If he's actually breaking any laws, they're foreign laws that shouldn't apply to this situation.

This is a really ****ty situation to be in, especially since the government won't step in. If your abusive spouse that was denied custody kidnaps your child and brings them overseas, you're SOL as far as the government is concerned.

This guy is doing a good thing in the only way it can be done with the current laws/government officials.

That would definately be hard for the kid, but I think the kid should have a say in it.

Vigilantism is justified when the government fails to enforce the law, I believe.

But the child ought to have a say in it as well.

Personally I support him. As long as he does a thorough background check on the situation. Someone above mentioned that sometimes the person who is awarded custody isn't the greatest of parents. Hopefully if he finds this true, he will just turn down the job.

I think the world could use a few more people like him.

Originally Posted by kreebby

In the situation you're thinking of, I absolutely agree with you. What worries me is abusive situations where the parent does not feel safe and flees the country. The child protection system isn't as good as it makes itself up to be--I've seen people who were blatantly in an abusive household left to live there because the inspector thought there "wasn't enough evidence" and the "parents seemed nice".

Imagine if the parent who won custody was highly abusive and the responsible parent tried to protect the child by taking it to another country. This has happened in the past.

Originally Posted by The Article

Zamora said he reviews cases to make sure his clients are within their rights.

I'm pretty sure during this review process that he would eventually find out about the abuse and inform the abusive parent that he will not recover the child. People aren't as stupid as you make them out to be, you know.

Anyway, I think that what this man is doing is admirable. Keep on keepin' on, brah.

He is a hero...in his mind. In others thoughts he could be the villain. If you have ever seen or read Watchmen then you know what I'm talking about.(Rorschach)

Vigilantism . . . something this world needs more of. When the law fails to protect those that do good and reward or turn a blind eye towards those that do bad, then that's when you have to take the law into your own hands, for if you are of righteous morals, then you yourself can save those that the law cannot.

Originally Posted by The article

Remember, these are children whose American parents have legal custody of them. Zamora said he reviews cases to make sure his clients are within their rights. The kidnapping parents can try to continue the custody battle. "But they're going to have to do it on American soil," he said.

I remember seeing a movie of the week where a woman marries a muslim and moves with him to Iran or something like that. The marriage goes sour, and he gets custody rights. He is painted as a horrible horrible villain. The mother is unfairly bullied by the legal system which is clearly biased against a foreigner and a woman, and smuggles their child out of the country. I think it was called Not Without My Daughter. However, this article seems to suggest that as long as the parent hiding behind the law is American, then it's fine and dandy.

Gold star for guessing what my problem with this attitude is.