In an interview with ClassicBands.com, songwriter Sonny Curtis talked about how the song came together:

Down on my luck I was, but not literally. I really got the idea for “I Fought The Law” in high school. I had a tremendous imagination back in those days. About all I did was dream. I remember the afternoon I sat down and wrote it. It came together in about 15 minutes. Of course, the song is not all that difficult. But I wrote it as a country song first, kind of a Johnny Cash feel.

Speaking with The Tennessean in 2014, Curtis said he was pleasantly surprised by the song’s timeless appeal. He also said he has no idea what possessed him—a Texas teenager who’d never been behind bars—to write one of rock’s quintessential outlaw jams.

I wish I could think of what I was thinking of—I’d do it again! (laughs). I used to just kind of write songs for the fun of it, not even thinking that I was a songwriter. At that particular time, I hadn’t written many songs, and I can’t imagine what was on my mind.