take the law into one's own hands

take the law into one's own hands  {v. phr.}
To protect one's supposed rights or punish a suspected wrongdoer without reference to a court. — An overused expression.
When the men of the settlement caught the suspected murderer, they took the law into their own hands and hanged him to a tree.
His farm was going to be sold for taxes, but he took the law into his own hands and drove the sheriff away with a shotgun.
Compare: LAW UNTO ONESELF, TAKE THE BIT IN ONE'S MOUTH.
Categories: verb
Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

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