In Martin Luther King’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he explains what he thinks is a just law and what makes an unjust law.So what makes a just and an unjust law? A just law, according to King, is a man made code that squares with the moral code. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. In the world we live in today most laws are just, but many issues are caused by prejudice people. Many are afraid to suffer the consequences that come with standing up for what is right
of what the law is and what it ought to be has been a central subject that many legal theorists have grappled with. What makes a legitimate rule, and should a society legislate morality? This essay will argue that members of society are not obliged to obey unjust laws by, firstly, defining unjust laws; secondly, justifying civil disobedience to unjust laws by arguing against “separation thesis” set out by positivists John Austin and H.L.A. Hart, and in favor of “inner morality of law” by Lon Fuller’
Hammurabi’s Unjust Laws Who is Hammurabi? Hammurabi lived about 4,000 years ago. He was an ancient ruler of a city-state called Babylon. He ruled Babylon for 42 years. Later, he became the ruler of Mesopotamia. Hammurabi took power in around 1792 BCE. My opinion, is that Hammurabi's family, property, and personal injury laws were unjust. Keep reading to find out why. Hammurabi’s family laws were unjust. Law 168 states that you can kick you son out of the family if he has done something unbearable
differences of a just and unjust law. He clarifies the idea through the quote, “One may well ask, ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘An unjust law is no law at all.’” (King, p. 3.) Throughout the letter King uses inductive reasoning, from personal experiences and observation to form a conclusion about unjust laws. Martin Luther King
Unjust law is a law that is written to only to benefit a small population at the expense of another population. These laws may be unintentional or outdated, either way they are harmful or exploitative for the excluded people. By having laws in place that are not equal for all, creates discontentment in these groups and further widens the chasm between the groups resulting in fear, hatred and even violence. When the minority is unequal by definition of law, it is easy for the majority to use this
"One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." Martin Luther King's words, which just correspond with the above assertion, perfectly tell us what to do in face of laws, either just or unjust. To be sure, modern laws are made to express the general will, a will that aims at the common good. This means that laws in most cases intend to protect every social member’s rights under the principle of justice and
some states place laws against public employee protests. Despite this, civil rights leaders start demonstrations to further their cause and are willing to show civil disobedience. According to Charles Frankel of the New York Times, “… a set of principles cannot be proposed that will allow anyone to make… specific acts of disobedience…” Clearly, the issue of civil disobedience and whether or not it is “legal” is a controversial topic. Yet, sometimes rebelling against an unjust law is necessary.
Birmingham. Birmingham in 1963 was a hard place for blacks to live in. King was arrested by not following an unjust law. " Let me give another explanation. An unjust law is a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating because it did not have the unhampered right to vote. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama, which set up the segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout the state of Alabama all types of conniving methods are used to prevent
Disobeying Unjust Laws As we see issues around the world, there are people who deal with them very differently than others. This world’s society has lead many people to believe that if any law is unjust, they can disobey it. The people who think this often create protests. Depending on the issue, these protests have not done much damage into the issue they want changed. However, there are many people that have brought the attention of outsiders into this topic. People who simply do not know why they
What would you do if a new law was passed saying that you can not do anything, even breathing, without paying a fee per action? Most people would go and essentially break the law because this law would be claimed as unjust. In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, we see the character Antigone break the law by burying her brother who was denied a burial. In this play the story starts by Antigone and her sister, Ismene, return to Thebes in the news that their brothers died, the leader of Thebes is their