The Bernhard Goetz Scandal

When Bernhard Goetz was approached on a New York subway by four young black men demanding $5, he drew a revolver and fired all its dum-dum bullets at them. Two were hit in the back; one remains paralyzed and comatose in a hospital. A month later a grand jury indicted Goetz for the illegal possession of a weapon, the least serious charge that could be returned.

Some of the reactions to the shooting were predictable. The unspeakable New York Post and its visual counterpoint, tel...