# When was the last time you deliberately broke the law in protest? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538 "2014-07-07T13:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bibliovore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bibliovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliovore)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/1 "2014-07-07T13:59:42Z")
To clarify the question, I’m not talking about the last time you broke the speed limit because you thought you wouldn’t get caught. What I mean is “when was the last time you knowingly disobeyed a law because you thought the law was a bad one?” The only time I can think of that I’ve done this deliberately was in Libya - never in the UK that I can recall. I’ve protested things as part of peaceful, lawful demonstrations here, but have never deliberately broken the law. You? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/2 "2014-07-07T14:48:36Z")
_Just_ because I thought the law was a bad one? I probably can’t think of an example. But because I enjoy doing it _and_ I think the law is a bad one? Just yesterday, around 4:20 PM. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/3 "2014-07-07T15:23:18Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > But because I enjoy doing it _and_ I think the law is a bad one? Just yesterday, around 4:20 PM. I’m with him. And I’ll point out that it’s _always_ 4:20 somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/4 "2014-07-07T15:25:56Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m with him. And I’ll point out that it’s _always_ 4:20 somewhere. Me too. Yesterday. Other than that, I think refusing to register for Selective Service during the Carter Administration. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/5 "2014-07-07T15:36:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m with him. And I’ll point out that it’s _always_ 4:20 somewhere. [It’s 4:20 Somewhere](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBq8esOBGeE), by Chief Greenbud. It’s a parody of _It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere_ by Alan Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/6 "2014-07-07T16:19:22Z")
🆒^Gracias!! ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/7 "2014-07-07T16:21:36Z")
Jaywalked this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/8 "2014-07-07T16:48:53Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Me too. Yesterday. > > Other than that, I think refusing to register for Selective Service during the Carter Administration. This is what I came here to post. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/9 "2014-07-07T17:10:48Z")
This weekend. I pick up 2 undocumented guys at Home Depot to do some work for me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/10 "2014-07-07T18:12:27Z")
Any time I am in a speed zone where the limit is too low, IMNSHO. So, yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/11 "2014-07-07T19:52:38Z")
I cut the tags off my new mattress and pillows last year. It was risky, but worth it. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/12 "2014-07-07T20:11:38Z")
Failed to pay sales tax on Internet purchases from vendors out of state. Wantonly exceeded the speed limit on any number of occasions. As a deliberate act of civil disobedience, I (and my spouse at the time) filed a joint Federal tax return without including the dollar value of my spouse’s scholarship money. Yes, we did get nailed for that, after we’d gotten divorced and hadn’t spoken in a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/13 "2014-07-07T20:26:26Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > I cut the tags off my new mattress and pillows last year. It was risky, but worth it. So you took the tag off but didn’t eat it? 21 to drink ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/14 "2014-07-07T22:08:39Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > This weekend. I pick up 2 undocumented guys at Home Depot to do some work for me. I’ve done that, but I don’t know for sure if they were documented or not (I didn’t ask them). I paid cash, and didn’t do withholding or anything, and didn’t report it to anyone. I’ll probably do it again one day, but it wasn’t deliberate flouting of the law because it’s a bad law, just that this was the most practical approach. There’s a local casual labor pool where the workers are documented, for some reason I don’t trust that one as much. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/15 "2014-07-07T22:27:21Z")
I have a friend that’s on public assistance. She sews clothing and does alterations for me. I pay her in cash. I have no idea if she reports anything, but I certainly don’t. Yes, I am aiding and abetting welfare fraud, but I think the laws are ridiculous that cut people off of assistance at such low thresholds. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/16 "2014-07-07T22:47:17Z")
Forty years ago or more… I was offended by a cross on a hilltop, on public property. So I went up and tried to chop it down. Failed: that mutha was solid! (Also…it turned out to be private property. So that made me stupid thrice.) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/17 "2014-07-07T22:53:26Z")
I gave George W. Bush the finger, when I was standing on a corner alone and his motorcade was rerouted by the state police and went by ten feet away from me. I think that was against the law, and certainly a protest. But there were plenty of other protesters being rounded up for judicial processing, I guess they didn’t have time to come back for me. although the others were probably less guilty than I was. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/18 "2014-07-07T23:05:51Z")
Burned another one tonight. #felon. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/19 "2014-07-07T23:12:51Z")
Today. Minor USPS infraction. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538/20 "2014-07-07T23:31:24Z")
Illegally downloaded a bunch of Metallica mp3s, even though they’ve totally sucked since The Black Album. I’m such a rebel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-you-deliberately-broke-the-law-in-protest/692538.md?page=2)