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Laws are there for a reason, and it’s likely safe to assume that without them, chaos would ensue. However, while some rules are there to stop crime and wrongdoing against people, others seem to regulate situations where no one’s actually a victim.
The ‘Ask Reddit’ community members recently discussed what is or feels like a victimless crime. They shared their thoughts after the user u/secondfiddle00 started the thread, which covered everything from dumpster diving to collecting rainwater. Scroll down to find more of redditors' answers on the list below.
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#1
As an ER nurse, I give a lot of s**t away to patients against the rules or advise them where they can get it cheaper. Big hospitals have more money than God, but want me to send you home with 1or2 wound supplies for a wound that will take 4 weeks to heal. F**k that. Here's a box of 50 for your purse. I never gave that to you. Hey, you need crutches, and here they are, but first. Before you sign that you got these. These crutches are $1000. The same or better are on Amazon for $50 or less. I'm not telling you how to live your life, but I can offer you a free wheelchair ride out to your sons car...
You could argue that the hospital is the victim here. I'm telling you that the hospital gets a discount on supplies and marks them up 1000% to sell to those going through an emergency. Who's really the victim?
Edit:
Appreciate all the support! Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope I never have the pleasure of taking care of any of you. Stay healthy people and keep living your life to the best you can.
To those saying I could get fired for this. I appreciate the concern. I can almost guarantee I will one day be fired for this. It's worth it to me. I will get another job in a different ER and continue my work.
Regarding the people saying I'm contributing to the problem. The problem is in the USA Healthcare model. Everything from insurance to CEOs. If my treatment and proper care of the individual is contributing to the problem, frankly, I don't think I care tbh. I will continue.
Lastly. Various arguments have been made to if this is a victimless crime or not. I don't disagree with some, but it's the closest thing I have to answer the question. Apologies if it doesn't 100% fit.
Stay beautiful people
Panda Kicki 1 year ago
I am starting to get at feeling this list should be marked "illegal in the US".
#2
Assisted s*****e. As long as it’s humane, the person is of right mind and age, and there is sufficient cause for such a procedure. Death with dignity has been withheld for too long as a civil society.
Cat Palmer 1 year ago
Totally agree it should be legalised (under strict controls, obviously). Refusing a humane end to a suffering animal is rightly considered cruelty, so why do humans not get that same mercy when they need it?
#3
Anything related to food stamps. I’m sorry but food insecurity is not ok for anyone to go through. I don’t care about fudging the numbers to get food assistance. I don’t care about people who sell their food stamps (I know, it’s cards now, but you know what I mean). If you’re desperate enough to use fraud to get food or you’re selling your free food access to someone else who needs it because you need the money for bills, I’m ok with it.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
My food stamps were cut in half in March. Now I get $126 for the entire month. My SSI is $1200. Like many other people in this country, I can only afford one meal a day. Rather ironic, as I'm morbidly obese.
#4
Feeding the homeless in Texas. No victims but it is a crime.
#6
Sleeping in your car when you are too drunk and can't drive.
#8
I see Jaywalking on this quite a but but I will say when I lived overseas, jaywalking even at 2 am on an empty street just didn't happen. When I asked a local (German) why he wouldn't cross against a no walking sign he said "what if a kid looked out the window and saw me, i don't want to set a bad example"
#11
Clicking "I am 18 years old" on an adult website when you're 17
#12
Downloading very old games that are no longer available for sale.
#13
Picking up a bird feather found on the ground and keeping it. It's technically against the migratory bird laws.
Two_rolling_black_eyes 1 year ago
Entire species were hunted to extinction (Arabian Ostrich) or near extinction (bald eagle) for their feathers. They had to make possession illegal because its way too easy to shoot a bird 1/2 mile from the nearest road and then claim you found the feathers on the ground.
Jared Robinson 1 year ago
I like this law. It keeps the birds safe. I love the feathers too, but I'd rather have the birds to keep making them. You know, the living breathing animal is the cool thing we should be trying to protect and worry about.
Tomato Froggo 1 year ago
It’s because certain endangered birds were being hunted, and the people doing it tended to just say they found the feathers on the ground. So to help stop that, there’s this law.
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Justin Thyme 1 year ago
Depends on the type-- eagle feathers are protected, pigeon feather aint, but loaded with mites
Upstaged75 1 year ago
I didn't know about this until I saw it on one of those fish and game officer type shows. The person with the feather didn't know it either until they got a ticket for having it. I believe the feather was turned over to the local Native American tribe - they are the only ones permitted to keep the feathers.
LadyVischuss 1 year ago
Certain Native American tribes are allowed to be in possession of restricted feathers because they are used in their traditional ceremonies. Other than that having the feathers is restricted to prevent poaching. Entire birds were used for high end ladies hats during the Guilded Age.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
Yes, they are only ones allowed to keep the feathers.
Load More Replies... Spannidandoolar 1 year ago
Is this another US thing? I'm in the UK and the contents of a certain pocket on my buggy could get me in trouble thanks to my 5 year old!
Auntriarch 1 year ago
In UK it depends on the species, if it's endangered, because anyone can say they just found feathers
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ninjaTrashPandaBoom 1 year ago
It's to stop feather poaching of endangered birds.
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Gracie Mae 1 year ago
oops, better lock me up...ignorance of the law is no excuse, but seriously???
Roy Briggs 1 year ago
So the crow feather sitting on my altar to Ódinn is there illegally??? Oh, S**T, I'd better get rid of that right.... Naaaaaawwwwwww..... Eat it piggy!!!
Swinger Panda 1 year ago
If it's legal for you to kill, then it's legal to posses the feathers. The law is intended to protect species that are killed for their feathers.
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Drinking my Covfefe 1 year ago
So, if only on the ground. Hunters keep feathers all the time from the birds.
M O'Connell 1 year ago
Being in possession of feathers from songbirds has been illegal in the US for over a hundred years (they were extensively hunted to provide brightly colored feathers for fancy hats), you can absolutely be in possession of feathers from game birds (ducks, geese, pheasants, etc), because they are hunted legally.
Load More Replies... Evan not Hansen 1 year ago
What if it's a feather from my pet chicken and I know it came from that chicken when they were out in the yard? Would that be still illegal even though the chicken is owned by me? I haven't kept any of their feathers, just curious.
Solangelo4life!!! 1 year ago
To quote a BP friend, “ Entire species were hunted to extinction (Arabian Ostrich) or near extinction (bald eagle) for their feathers. They had to make possession illegal because its way too easy to shoot a bird 1/2 mile from the nearest road and then claim you found the feathers on the ground.”
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PeepPeep the duck 1 year ago (edited)
My mums wife in wildlife gave me links to papers so I can collect dead things for art so I don’t get arrested under the Australian wildlife laws etc. worth it if you’re an artist or into ethically sourced curiosities. I just get lucky and find a lot of corpses (natural deaths) , I could never kill for body parts though, that’s sick in the head
Cactus 1549 1 year ago
It’s only for certain birds probably. It’s probably okay to have a collection of turkey feathers or some other song bird.
#14
Setting up a lemonade stand without a vendor license
Marco Richter 1 year ago
"Is your lemonade made out of actual lemonade?" - "Are your scout cookies made out of actual scouts?"
#16
Prostitution. Ain't nobody's business if two more more consenting adults conduct a financial deal that involves bodily fluids.
That's not to say that cheating, withholding health problems, and sex trafficking aren't victimless, but those aren't just merely prostitution.
#17
Hanging a clothesline, collecting rainwater, or planting a garden in your yard. Some places ban you from doing these things
#18
Eating food out of someones garbage.
Sue Denham 1 year ago
The crime here is that there was food thrown out that could have been passed on to someone who needs it.
#19
Being gay in a homophobic country
J Adams 1 year ago
Worth noting that being gay in ‘most’ countries was still illegal well into the 1900’s, from memory I think it was decriminalised as late as 1996 in Germany. So to my mind we shouldn’t be pointing fingers at developing countries for their ideas, religions and beliefs because we are only talking between what 25-75 years ago when ‘we’ held similar ideas.
#21
Wearing a dress as a man in Tennessee.
Sue Denham 1 year ago
It's clothing. It's there to keep you covered and protect you from the elements. What shape it comes in should be completely up to the wearer.
#22
I can take a seed at home, put rain water on it and expose it to sunlight, dry the flowers, bake them into a cake and make some THC edibles, and it doesn't even harm the air quality due to smoking. That's a crime. No money goes to criminal gangs, and I would risk losing my job and going to prison.
Or I can manufacture alcohol and sell it legally, knowing that it causes people health issues, and that others cause crimes when drunk and disorderly, and that's absolutely fine and not a crime.
Weird.
#24
Selling alcohol on Sunday. It's still illegal in some States.
#25
Being an atheist in many many countries
Tomato Froggo 1 year ago
If being in a religion is okay, then not being in one should be too. Forcing people into a religion tends to have the opposite effect…
#28
TONS of blue laws.
basically antiquated laws on the books that have to do with religion (mostly on sundays). In my state you can't buy alcohol on sunday before noon. And car dealers are not allowed to be open on sunday. Basically they are designed to not compete with church attending times like early morning.
Drinking my Covfefe 1 year ago (edited)
We have a certain religion here where I live that don't work on Sunday's. But of course they will go to church then go out for brunch afterward and make other people work even though they HIGHLY judge people who work on Sunday. I work in Healthcare there are no days off. My friends say "I better not treat them if they come in on Sunday lest I will be judged." Of course she was being sarcastic.
#29
When cops pretend to be kids and get people for solicitation to a minor. When I worked at the district attorneys office we LOVED these. The shock on these men’s face when the “14 year old girl” they spoke to was our 6’5”, 300 pound 50 year old detective was just….amazing.
#30
Speeding If traffic is all going above the speed limit. the safest speed is not the speed limit. The safest speed is the speed at which traffic is moving. speeding doesn't inherently cause accidents. differential in speed causes accidents.
#32
Loitering. It's basically just existing somewhere.
Tyranamar Seuss 1 year ago
Businesses are harmed if your "existing" as you call it makes their location less desirable to shop or do business in. A lot of these "victimless" crimes sound like they were written by people who never considered the other person's point of view.
#33
Collecting rain water (a crime in a lot of cities here in the US).
Tobias Reaper 1 year ago
this makes absolutely no sense do the US goverment think they own the weather or something
#34
Downloading games for obsolete consoles from companies which are now non-existent.
#35
Pirating cute cat videos off the internet
What do you think ?
David A Paterson 1 year ago
I don't think anyone has mentioned eating the wrong food. Non-halal food, non-kosher food in some countries. In aboriginal law in Australia, victimless crimes like eating food for the wrong totem, having sex with your betrothed before marriage, and looking at your mother-in-law, are punishable by death or exile, ditto giving birth to a deformed child.
Monday 1 year ago
Giving birth to a deformed child? Wtf? That's entirely out of the parents' control :0
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Nice Beast Ludo 1 year ago
If you are homeless and live in your car, DON'T PARK AT TARGET! The cops will be surrounding you within the hour. The security scours the parking lot. Doesn't Matter if you are in the far corner away from everyone, just don't sit there.
Super Beast 1 year ago
in my country it is a crime to lose your identification papers. you get a fine. it's also illegal to not have identification on person in public, but it's rarely enforced.
Gracie Mae 1 year ago
So sad that these were ever put on the books somewhere; worse because they are STILL there. Repeal, change!
Kevin J. Henning 1 year ago
It used to be illegal to record music from one audio source to another or copy sheet music without paying loyalties. I don't remember anyone being arrested for it and I assume it is still in force.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
some of these are completely horrible, some obvious, and im pretty sure some have some stories added to it. You're not allowed to jaywalk, cars present or not.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
Reminds me again why I should be grateful to not live in that country.
David A Paterson 1 year ago
I don't think anyone has mentioned eating the wrong food. Non-halal food, non-kosher food in some countries. In aboriginal law in Australia, victimless crimes like eating food for the wrong totem, having sex with your betrothed before marriage, and looking at your mother-in-law, are punishable by death or exile, ditto giving birth to a deformed child.
Monday 1 year ago
Giving birth to a deformed child? Wtf? That's entirely out of the parents' control :0
Load More Replies... Nice Beast Ludo 1 year ago
If you are homeless and live in your car, DON'T PARK AT TARGET! The cops will be surrounding you within the hour. The security scours the parking lot. Doesn't Matter if you are in the far corner away from everyone, just don't sit there.
Super Beast 1 year ago
in my country it is a crime to lose your identification papers. you get a fine. it's also illegal to not have identification on person in public, but it's rarely enforced.
Gracie Mae 1 year ago
So sad that these were ever put on the books somewhere; worse because they are STILL there. Repeal, change!
Kevin J. Henning 1 year ago
It used to be illegal to record music from one audio source to another or copy sheet music without paying loyalties. I don't remember anyone being arrested for it and I assume it is still in force.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
some of these are completely horrible, some obvious, and im pretty sure some have some stories added to it. You're not allowed to jaywalk, cars present or not.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
Reminds me again why I should be grateful to not live in that country.
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