What are the circumstances where it would be considered acceptable to break the law?

Question

What are the circumstances where it would be considered acceptable to break the law?

Answer 1

Acceptable to who?

If your starving and you steal some bread, you have justified it to yourself

All laws can be broken with the right justification, but what we decide is justified, may not be agreed upon by a jury.

Answer 2

None.  Anytime that an action would be considered exempt is usually spelled out in the law itself, making that action legal and in compliance with said law.

  For example, the law says all vehicles must stop at a red light, it then goes on to say which vehicles, under what conditions may go through a red light (i.e Fire, Police, Ambulance or other authorized emergency vehicle responding to an emergency)

Answer 3

in cases of the lesser evil

Answer 4

If I feel like it or if someone really pisses me off.

Answer 5

When you are someone important or you work for the government

or when you are just really pissed off/ depressed.

Answer 6

If it your life is in danger. For example, suppose you are walking down the sidewalk and you hear someone yell to you "I'm going to kill you!" will holding a hunting knife in their hand. They start running after you. You start running away from them but they are quickly gaining speed on you. You turn the corner and see a residential neighborhood nearby. You run up to a house and break the front window with your fist, run into the house and call the police. Obviously you broke the law because you unlawfully entered someone's house as well as doing damage to property.

However, you have a valid justification for breaking the law. If the police arrested you for breaking into the house, you would have a valid defense to present to the court.

Another quick example is that it is normall unlawful to kill someone. However, if someone breaks into your home, you have reasonable suspcion to believe your life is at risk, so you are allowed to shoot and kill them.  

Answer 7

I can be "legal" to break the law.

Example: Two guys fight in the street, nobody manages to stop them. A man steps in, shouts "Police! Anyone punching again will get locked up", and the fighting actually stops. The police arrives, the attacker is arrested and later convicted. In this case there would most likely be no prosecution, despite the offense of pretending to be a policeman, as the "smaller offense" was commited to prevent a bigger one.