An absurdity of what the Pope being tough on crime would look like. Dressing up as batman and punching bad guys? An absurd level of toughness on crime.
But for the pontius pilate stuff, the whole crucifixion came about as an execution for the crime ginned up by the Sanhedrin (a Jewish judicial body).
It's never been that in its totality. It has always had an unspoken "for some" implied after "land of the free".