"Hanging judge" is a colloquial phrase for a judge who has gained notoriety for handing down punishment by sentencing convicted persons to death by hanging, or otherwise imposing unusually harsh sentences. Hanging judges are officers of the court with mandates, as opposed to extralegal lynch law.
Roman Kryże [pl], Polish judge at communist political trials, including that of Witold Pilecki[7] and the Warsaw meat affair. His harsh rulings gave rise to the saying "Kryże is judging – there will be crosses" (Polish: sądzi Kryże – będą krzyże).[8]
Justice Sir Francis Brittain in Bruce Hamilton's 1949 novel Hanging Judge; the novel was adapted for the stage by Raymond Massey in 1952, and Boris Karloff played Justice Brittain in the BBC Radio adaptation of the play in 1953.[9]
Critic Stanley Crouch's 1990 essay collection entitled Notes of a Hanging Judge