In US mysteries, many of the detectives are slightly outside the law. They use illegal methods to rectify injustices when the law can't do the job.
John D. Macdonald's Travis McGee makes his living at that. At the other extreme, the protagonist is a law officer who's generally law-abiding but who does something illegal in each novel.
As for outlaws in the US: Jesse James was noted for making unauthorized banking withdrawals:
He took from the rich and he gave to the poor, He'd a hand and a heart and a brain. (From the folksong "Jesse James")
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Date: 2007-04-14 02:12 am (UTC)John D. Macdonald's Travis McGee makes his living at that. At the other extreme, the protagonist is a law officer who's generally law-abiding but who does something illegal in each novel.
As for outlaws in the US: Jesse James was noted for making unauthorized banking withdrawals:
He took from the rich and he gave to the poor,
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain.
(From the folksong "Jesse James")