choices that are illegal but not immoral?

Question: Two human acts/choices that are illegal but not immoral!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Lets hope you don't remove this one, I spent 20 min working on an answer to your other question!.

There are two kinds of law!.!.!.malum per se and malum prohibitum!.

malum per se offenses are things that are evil in and of themselves!. Murder!. Rape!. etc!.

malum prohibitum are things that are evil only becuase the law says they are!. For example "driving in an unsafe manner" may be malum pe se because of the risk of injury to others!.!.!.but the law decides what is and is not unsafe more or less at random!. (Why is driving 34mph safe but driving 36 is not!? ) The law does that because "safe" is a judgment call, and bureaucrats HATE judgment calls!. IT is much easier to just draw a bright line (no matter how irrational) and say "You were going 36 in a 35!."

The law is FULL of things like this these days!.!.!. because it makes the bureaucrats lives easier!. Enviormental laws are, with a few exceptions (say directly pouring dioxin into a city water system) are, malum prohibitum not malum per se!. Who (besides the local Jiffy Lube) gets hurt if I change the oil in my car myself and pour it into the back yard!. Don't tell me that it is going to pollute the local water table!.!.!. I lived in Albuquerque all my life and my Dad did exactly that for years!.!.!. nobody grew green gills or died of cancer!. If you actually think that a quart of Pennzoil can sink down thorough several hundred feet of rock to get to the water table, you don' t know anything about geology!.!.!.(look at "porosity" and "permiabiltiy" of rock!.!.!.if oil could move through rock that easily we wouldn't need to drill down to get it)!. Another example is off shore oil drilling, or drilling in ANWAR!.!.!.

Zoning laws are malum prohibitum (who gets hurt if I choose not to landscape 40% of my yard!? Why do I need a permit to cut down my own tree, on my own land, with my own ax, on my own time!?) Gun laws are malum prohibitum!.!.!.!. some people are scared of guns so they don't want other people to have them!.!.!.but think about it!.!.!.if you were stuck in an elevator would you rather be in there with Jeffery Dahlmer (who had only his belt) or Colin Powell (who was holding an M-60 machine gun and had two boxes of ammuntion)!? It's not the weapon that is dangerious, it is the person who is holding the weapon!.!.!.but again that is a judgment call and it is easeir to just prohibit everything!.!.!.!.

One could make a case that Dram shop laws (bars can't serve more booze do someone who is obviously drunk) could be malum per se!.!.!.!.it's a stretch but there is a DWI argument that holds water!.!.!.but allowing a grocery store to sell wine and beer but not gin is mallum prohibitum!. Allowing people to buy liquor after noon on Sunday, but not on Sunday morning is Malum Prohibitum!.

There are lots of Malum Prohibitum laws!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

smoking weed and sodomy in some states!. gay marriage!. going slightly over the speed limit!. burning a red light in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere when no one is around, and/or the light has taken forever to change!.

prostitution can or cannot be considered immoral and is not illegal everywhere!.

sometimes breaking the law is the moral thing to do, like helping blacks escape to canada when slavery was legal in the states!.

pirating certain software that is designed for corporate use, yet is used only for personal use, and that has such a high price tag only companies would ever be able to afford actually buying it!.

you could justify some stuff like stealing a car, in order to race someone to a hospital or something!.

i think you're forgetting that different countries have different laws!.

obviously your country can't miraculously somehow be so great that it is the only one that got morality and law exactly correct!.

what about the things that are legal yet immoral!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

1) Speeding (over the speed-limit) to deliver your pregnent-wife to the hospital so she herself can have a delivery!.

2) Starting a forest-fire (Arson ) to bring attention to authorities to save you and your lost-family from starvation or the other 'dangers' of the wilderness!.

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Edit: Larry R, gets my vote if it comes down to it, very insigtful and informative, if I may venture to say such!.!.!.

_______________________________Www@QuestionHome@Com

One act can be illegal and the other act immoral!.
Ethics reasons that anything illegal is immoralWww@QuestionHome@Com

Of course this is relative here in the US!. I would have to choose LSD and marijuana!. But that's just the way I fall!. What is really moral is the issue I suppose!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

choosing to kill someone because they ask you to and they are in great pain

choosing prostitution because it is the only source of income or way to surviveWww@QuestionHome@Com

Here is 1 for now!. Will submit a 2nd one later!.
==> Smoking marijuana cigarettes!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Smoking the peace herb and not paying taxes!

Kind of threw me for a loop couldn't think of anything but these 2 !Www@QuestionHome@Com

That is def!. possible and is constantly happening in our messed up world!.

I say!.!.!. hey! F**k it!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Not paying taxes and driving too fast!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

is it possible!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

find the fine way to lose or comment !.!.!.!.!.!.!. self controlWww@QuestionHome@Com