# Is Committing a Crime a "Right"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 11, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-committing-a-crime-a-right/817734 "2018-07-11T17:38:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-committing-a-crime-a-right/817734/41 "2018-07-26T12:46:00Z")
> [@sabernode](#): > > I think that it’s only morally correct and considered to be a “right” when it does not strip other people of their rights. Like nobody has the right to kill because it directly contradicts a person’s right to live. Likewise, you can’t take shelter from a person because it goes against their right to access basic needs. Abusing someone physically or emotionally cannot be justified as it goes against their right to safety and security. A case can be made that someone has hoarded so much stuff ‘legally’ as to be a detriment to society, thus making theft morally OK. This expanded to modern day society, one can make the case that theft is a balancing of resources in a society - redrustrubign resources from rich to poor, and rich to middle class in security, replacing items, etc., however in practice it doesn’t often fall along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-committing-a-crime-a-right/817734/42 "2018-07-28T00:41:30Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > See, that’s dystopian weirdness and should be stopped, IMO. I missed this earlier. I don’t see any dystopian about this. Prisons have rules; I don’t think many people object to that. Establishing and enforcing rules is necessary both to make prisons manageable for the staff and livable for the prisoners and as part of the rehabilitative process. People get sent to prison because they broke rules; part of imprisonment is teaching these people that they need to follow the rules. As for this specific rule, I think it’s very reasonable to say that prisoners are not allowed to break the law. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-committing-a-crime-a-right/817734/43 "2018-07-28T01:03:10Z")
I’m no expert in 18th century British law, but I’m pretty sure that open rebellion against the Crown probably violated a law or two, yet the American colonists doing so certainly seemed to think they had the right. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-committing-a-crime-a-right/817734/44 "2018-07-28T20:48:07Z")
The OP has a rather strange definition of a “right.” I had always assumed that it was a freedom to commit a certain act without legal punishment. Even his modified definition of a right, e.g. that I have a right to commit a burglary so long as I agree to do 1 to 15 years in prison is not accurate as well. A homeowner who catches me in the act may use lethal force and take my life. If we are getting even more esoteric and saying that I have the right to commit burglary but the homeowner has an equal right to defend his home against my burglary, then we are just garbling words. Assume no right to commit burglary. How would the world be different? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-committing-a-crime-a-right/817734/45 "2018-07-28T21:35:12Z")
Do I have the right to park illegally, and see the tickets as a cost of doing business? I wouldn’t think it’s a right. Society said it’s harmful. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-committing-a-crime-a-right/817734/46 "2018-07-29T02:24:00Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > I’m no expert in 18th century British law, but I’m pretty sure that open rebellion against the Crown probably violated a law or two, yet the American colonists doing so certainly seemed to think they had the right. But they weren’t basing their belief that it was right on a willingness to accept the punishment for their actions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-committing-a-crime-a-right/817734.md?page=2)