Yes the lawfulls need to be feared in thier own territories the same way that the pirates are feared along the power trade routes.
What we need to remember is that in certain circumstances pvp is the best roleplay. Your not gonna bust in on a pirate in the middle of it begging him to "please stop and leave the system".
Look at the single player campaign. One of the first missions has you catching pirates attacking a large ship. Theres no extended pointless chit chat. Its straight in to a fire fight. Then you get a lead on thier base and what do the LSF do? They hunt the ***kers down and kill them all.
WE still DO need to do the role play part of it. Its important, without it we might as well all just be playing single player. But alot of it can be done while in the trade lanes on the way to intercept.That way if the pirate chooses to still be in the area by the time you get there then they should expect to get blown to hell.
Heck, when I used to play any of my unlawfull characters I would try put myself in a situation where if I got caught, I had to escape or die. That sort of thing is what gets your heart pumping. Puts you right in the cockpit with your character and you can feel the fear. This to me is what role playing is all about.