A bit over 150 years ago, slavery was legal (and commonplace) in the United States.
Sure, lots of shitty stuff in the world today... but you don't have to go far back to a time when a sherif with zero evidence relying on unverified accusations and heresy would've put up a "wanted dead or alive" poster with a drawing of the guy's face created by an artist who had never even laid eyes on the alleged murderer.