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Originally Posted by willravel
Do you believe there are circumstances in which working outside of the law is morally admissible? What is your take on the above specific case of vigilantism? Are there hypothetical circumstances in which you would consider turning to vigilantism? If so, what are they and why?
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A few ignored or omitted the first question, which is admittedly what caught my attention. I think the answer is quite trivial, and that is that it is most definitely 'morally permissible' to act outside of the law. One need only think of any case where something morally reprehensible has been legalized to know that civil disobedience or outright rebellion is morally justified.
On the question of a source for that morality, I'd say that most religious moral systems would allow (even encourage) acting outside the laws, especially when those laws run contrary to the morals of the holy text or Creator. For non-religious individuals, morality generally boils down to 'wellbeing of conscious entities' and so it'd be likewise morally permissible to act if the law was egregiously violating or allowing the violation of conscious entities wellbeing.
Myself, I take a step further and find that if I felt cheated by the justice system, and someone who had physically violated me was allowed free reign, I am certain that I would not only find vigilante justice permissible, but necessary. I think we'd have havoc if we encouraged it at a societal level, but in my own psyche I am certain that I wouldn't feel compelled to stop myself out of obligation to a legal code. My only consideration is whether I could extract justice without being caught.