From Reddit: What message is "A Time To Kill" (1996) trying to convey, exactly?

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/rr7ny2/what_message_is_a_time_to_kill_1996_trying_to/

right before the two could face a judge for such crime, the child's father, Carl Lee, straight up murders the two, with also injuring a guard bad enough for his leg to need amputation. His trial follows and occupies the majority of the film.

The movie ends with Carl Lee getting absolved for his crimes and basically getting away with it as a free man.

This movie isn't exactly sure of what it wants to say. There's a small discussion between McConaughey and Bullock that revolves death penalty, which is also what Carl Lee faces, but it doesn't go anywhere. There's also some heavy handed racism discourse, with actual KKK members being involved in the story, but that's really how far the movie goes with racism itself.

The movie is about racism in the sense that it's what drove those two white guys to assault the little black girl, as for they do behave in an overtly racist way, even calling the black sheriff the n word and stuff, but the movie... Isn't about racism?

The movie is about Carl Lee, who has MURDERED two people and injured a third one, who is facing the death penalty with his trial. For some reason, the jury, who is literally there to judge if Carl Lee did murder those people and hurt the third one, manages to claim the man as not guilty, because... He had a moral reason to act that way? WHAT?!?

Murdering people is alright if you have a moral justification to do so, such as the victims having hurt, raped or murdered someone close to you? Private justice is good? Fuckin vigilantism is okay? Is that what this is?

If Carl Lee, a black man of Mississippi, can go to a courtroom with a shotgun and straight up shoot two people to death and injure a POLICEMAN and just walk free after it because racism, then what the hell is stopping everyone else who finds themselves in the same position to act likewisely? This is literally the collapse of the justice system.

And even more idiotic thing that this movie does, apart from the absolute bonkers subscription form sheet that apparently the KKK gives you do become a part of it, is having the guard who lost his leg on the stand, literally admit that Carl Lee was the one to shoot him, having him tell the prosecutor that Carl Lee said sorry and that he held no grudge towards him.

Carl Lee is ultimately found innocent not only of the murder of the rapists, but also innocent of having injured a policeman at shootpoint. This is beyond crazy.

Plenty of witnesses were there, plenty saw what Carl Lee did, but I guess fuck it. He was black and he was a victim of racism, so his actions must not hold any consequence for them whatsoever.

I need someone to prove me that I got this movie totally wrong because if not, this story is kinda messed up.