What are the consequences of taking matters into your own hands in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the consequences of taking matters into your hands vary according to age and race. When Jem gets angry at Mrs. Dubose's negative comments about his father, he destroys her camellia bushes. Since Jem is only a child, his father, Atticus, decides to punish him by making him read to Mrs. Dubose every afternoon. However, Tom Robinson, an African American, is not so lucky. This gentleman doesn't even destroy anybody's plants, but he is falsely accused of rape when he enters a white woman's house to assist her. The consequences of this accusation eventually lead to his unfair conviction and death. Bob Ewell, a white man known as a drunk, is not arrested for trying to break into a judge's house, because the townsfolk don't take him seriously.