Is it ever morally right to take the law in to your own hands?

Question

I can think of a few circumstances that would make me think so. What about you?

Answer 1

Ok......some of these responses have my head spinning.

I'm with Stephen  on this.....guess because I've been in that situation (of protecting my family) on more than one occasion. Fortunately the law agreed with me~

Answer 2

no that's perjury you can get 5 to 7 years for it so i would not do it unless you are just guna to beat someones *** or smoothing then ya go for it but don't hide your self as a cop  

Answer 3

Of course

Answer 4

Yes, there are instances that it is appropriate

Answer 5

If you are only speaking in terms of morality, I would have to say that every time you see a crime being committed and you don't take the law into your own hands, you would be acting immorally.  Laws are enacted to protect people, so in effect, if you allow crimes to happen while doing nothing, you are enabling harmful behavior or situations.  You have heard of a citizen's arrest, right?  

Answer 6

Nope!

Answer 7

Sure. If you are protecting your family ..............................

Answer 8

Guess we should ask the founding fathers of our nation. :) They broke so many laws when they ceded from Great Britain...

Answer 9

I can think of a few instances, yes

Answer 10

I Believe that is a deeply personal decision the answer depends on a lot of different factors. I can imagine a couple of different scenario's that would justify that for me but I could never tell another person to do the same.

Answer 11

That's precisely what the concept of a "citizen's arrest" is, so I would have to give a general "yes" to your general question.  

Answer 12

I have a real problem with the concept of "taking the law into your own hands". I don't believe it has EVER been anywhere else! In a Republic, the law exists ONLY in the hands of the governed. We hire lackeys to administer the law we make. We call them judges. It is the bureaucrats that promulgated the MYTH that you can take the law into your own hands. You cannot take what is already there! Sometimes we have to strongly remind our EMPLOYEES who the BOSS is.

Now, having said that, yes of course. There are many cases where the we must enforce the law ourselves. Chief among these is when the bureaucratic structure we erect to administer the affairs of government take the power of rule unto themselves, then we must assert and enforce the law ourselves.

Answer 13

when the law fails to protect you, you have the right to protect yourself...period.

If we're talking about revenge....then no.

That being said...moral or not...if someone hurt my kids....they better kill themselves before I get the chance to...because i'm gonna make them pray for death by the time i'm done with them.

Answer 14

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

- Wendell Phillips (speech in Boston, Massachusetts, January 28, 1852,

     citing Thomas Jefferson, though it has also been attributed to Patrick  

     Henry)

"The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."

-Patrick Henry

Answer 15

I'd say you should=)

Answer 16

something doesn't have to be legal to be moral - and vice versa

Answer 17

sometimes it's the only thing that's right.

Answer 18

Yes, the right to bear arms is there for a reason. I feel if it comes down to, kill or be killed-I will fight to survive.

Answer 19

No.  Unless you were actually there at the scene of the crime, you have no right in taking the law into your own hands, and are actually obstructing justice.

Say like false rape claims, like with the Duke LaCrosse Players.  No witnesses, yet everyone believed the stipper for quite some time. Had her boyfriend, father, brother, etc taken the law into their own hands and had them killed...

Edit: So it would have been okay for someone to kill these guys as a result of her falsely hollering rape?

Answer 20

It may be morally right, but legally the attitude of some prosecutors (many) is they broke the law, they go to jail.

And yes, I know many times it may be morally right to take the law into your own hands.

Answer 21

Yes, I think there certainly are instances where it would be morally right to take the law into your own hands, BUT that would not make it legal for you to do such a thing.  I think if you were going to take the law into "your own hands" then you would need to accept whatever consequences, good and bad, come of those actions.