Does "lawful" mean the same thing as "legal"?

[DesEtoiles]

Is lawful some kind of wiggle-room?

[Vickers]

1. Good question.

When I think of "legal" I think of abiding by rules. When I think of "lawful" I think of abiding by laws.

Both can be used as "wiggle room" I reckon.

[Nimrod2005]

2. Lawful is something the crime family has been using

I heard it again today on Face the Nation, I am 100% convinced they are using it for a reason, Bush used it on Thursday when the story broke...

Legal and Lawful are not the same, it is being used for a reason...

[DesEtoiles]

4. kind of like "lawiness"

[EFerrari]

3. No, but they are used interchangeably by most people. n/t

[acmejack]

5. From the Legal Encyclopedia.

snip>
The terms lawful and legal differ in that the former contemplates the substance of law, whereas the latter alludes to the form of law. A lawful act is authorized, sanctioned, or not forbidden by law. A legal act is performed in accordance with the forms and usages of law, or in a technical manner. In this sense, illegal approaches the meaning of invalid. For example, a contract or will, executed without the required formalities, might be regarded as invalid or illegal, but could not be described as unlawful.

The term lawful more clearly suggests an ethical content than does the word legal. The latter merely denotes compliance with technical or formal rules, whereas the former usually signifies a moral substance or ethical permissibility. An additional distinction is that the word legal is used as the synonym of constructive, while lawful is not. Legal fraud is fraud implied by law, or made out by construction, but lawful fraud would be a contradiction in terms. Legal is also used as the antithesis of equitable, just. As a result, legal estate is the correct usage, instead of lawful estate. Under certain circumstances, however, the two words are used as exact equivalents. A lawful writ, warrant, or process is the same as a legal writ, warrant, or process.

http://www.answers.com/topic/lawful

[tsuki]

11. Great. Thanks. nt

[notadmblnd]

6. I don;t know if this will help

Lawful

Licit; legally warranted or autho- rized.

The terms lawful and legal differ in that the former contemplates the substance of law, whereas the latter alludes to the form of law. A lawful act is authorized, sanctioned, or not forbidden by law. A legal act is performed in accordance with the forms and usages of law, or in a technical manner. In this sense, illegal approaches the meaning of invalid. For example, a contract or will, executed without the required formalities, might be regarded as invalid or illegal, but could not be described as unlawful.

The term lawful more clearly suggests an ethical content than does the word legal. The latter merely denotes compliance with technical or formal rules, whereas the former usually signifies a moral substance or ethical permissibility. An additional distinction is that the word legal is used as the synonym of constructive, while lawful is not. Legal fraud is fraud implied by law, or made out by construction, but lawful fraud would be a contradiction in terms. Legal is also used as the antithesis of equitable, just. As a result, legal estate is the correct usage, instead of lawful estate. Under certain circumstances, however, the two words are used as exact equivalents. A lawful writ, warrant, or process is the same as a legal writ, warrant, or process.

http://www.answers.com/topic/lawful

[acmejack]

7. It certainly will if they're the type that need to read everything twice!

[notadmblnd]

8. Yeah, I know.. you beat me to the post by a couple of seconds

if it really bothers you, have the mod delete it.

on edit: a couple of minutes not seconds

[Odin2005]

9. IIRC, they mean the same thing.

Lawful is of Germanic/Old English origin while legal is derived from the Latin word lux, a law or statute.

[thecrow]

10. That depends on what "is" is.

[gulliver]

12. How about "wrongdoing?"

The press seems to use "wrongdoing" whenever they want to be dainty about whether something is unlawful or illegal. They might say, "No one has suggested that Katherine Harris engaged in any wrongdoing" when they could say, "No one has suggested that Katherine Harris committed any unlawful acts." The former (wrongdoing) avoids referencing the law when, in fact, the law is exactly the heart of the matter and should be a part of the story.

[PurityOfEssence]

13. One can still be a total abusive skunk and be within the law

By the time one has crossed most of the lines into illegality, one has long since been an abuser of one's fellow humans. Decency is something different.