Let's say I went to a movie theater, and the people behind me won't quit talking, even after I ask them to. In fact, they're sneaking beer into the theater and carrying on amongst themselves continuously. I go to the manager, and he refuses to give me a refund or to do anything about the people behind me. The manager says that they've already emptied the registers of cash; the theater is "closed" and we're in the last show of the night. He offers vouchers to another movie, but I refuse to ever return to the theater, so those are no good to me.
Would it be wrong for me to extort the manager by threatening to call the police, the state health department, and the ATF if the manager doesn't refund my money by any means necessary (including from his own pocket)? Every theater is certain to have multiple health hazards that would require clean-up before the establishment could pass an inspection, and there are minors consuming alcohol on the premisis -- it's not as if I'd have to lie about anything.
The criterion that would matter to me would be if you were compelled to call the health department and/or ATF anyway. If that's the sort of thing that you do when you see wrong-doing, then saying so is fine. That's in regards to the kid-drinking problem.
In regards to the general health hazards, it does strike me as a mild form of extortion. As you say, all the theaters have it and the only reason you single this one out is because of their failure to do what you want them to.
That's my take on it, anyway.
I agree with R.A., the question seems to be, do you call the police no matter what? If you only call the police when the theatre doesn't do what you want regarding your refund, that seems morally wrong. This would change if, when you brought the situation up to the Manager, he called the police himself. So, when you see under-age drinking, do you call the police always?
Aside: These moral/logical hypotheticals are the reason I visit your site daily. Thanks for making me think!
LT
But LT, by your criteria then the vast majority of civil lawsuits are immoral! People only sue (to enforce the law) when there's the potential to get money (to at least pay the lawyers). They won't sue if there's no money to be had, even for equal offense.
I don't see a problem with using the law as a tool to get your way. Likewise, I don't have much of a problem with blackmail in general, as long as the blackmailer doesn't manufacture the circumstances himself through deception or trickery.