Sun Yang, the Chinese swim star and three-time Olympic gold medalist, earned himself an eight-year ban Friday in a case in which the verdict itself was always a no-brainer.

Why?

You don’t get to take the law into your hands, figuratively and literally.

Or, put another way, even in the Far East, it’s not the Old West out there.

Or, if you prefer, vigilante justice is no justice at all.