the.com/impunity
the get-out-of-consequences card that money, power, or a good lawyer keeps renewing.
means exemption from punishment or accountability for wrongdoing, whether by law, status, or sheer nerve.
from from latin impunitas, from in- (without) plus poena (penalty, punishment) — the same root that gives us pain and penalty; literally means without-pain-inflicted.
legal cousinroot of impunity and punish are the same word, poena
un usageun reports track impunity for war crimes, genocide, mass killings
diplomatic versiondiplomatic immunity is impunity with a passport stamp
for instance
war crimes tribunals — created specifically to close impunity gaps after rwanda, yugoslavia
police impunity cases — us doj tracks qualified immunity as a legal shield since 1967
corporate polluters — decades of dumping with fines cheaper than compliance