2004 Just and Unjust Laws The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines unjust as "characterized by injustice: Unfair." At the same time it defines a law as "a binding custom or practice of a community." With both definitions in mind an unjust law can be described as "a binding custom or practice of a community characterized by injustice and unfairness." Today one can see unjust laws across the globe‚ many of which are overlooked by much of the world. At the same time‚ just laws are often enforced
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The Law The law has been around for centuries since the beginning of time. It was used as early as the era before Jesus’ birth. Although ideas have changed over time‚ the law in general still exist in today’s society. The idea of law was intended for order and avoiding citizens from revolting and rebelling against the government. People should obey the law because the law creates a stable and safer society. There are many reasons why people obey the law People obey the law because of religious
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his essay‚ “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them‚ or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded‚ or shall we transgress them at once?” (184) The answer will depend on which side of the law or the laws you are on‚ minority or majority. When the laws are made by the majority the laws can’t all be just‚ expect for the majority that wanted it. Should the wise minority be able to disobey laws that were created by the majority? Obeying every law is hard but even
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Is it considered okay to disobey some laws? Does committing civil disobedience actually do any good? Martin Luther King Jr. believed that it was moral to obey just laws and disobey unjust law. “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just law. Conversely‚ one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” (Jacobus 382). Henry David Thoreau also conveyed this same idea when he said “If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government‚ let it
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responsibilities‚ I will obey the curfew law and make sure that I am off the city streets after 10:00 p.m. on a school night unless I am accompanied by one of my parents. The law was established for the common good of all citizens. Therefore‚ it is my civic responsibility to follow the law. Also‚ it is my personal responsibility to do the right thing. I have to behave in a manner that is civil to all and follow my moral principles of obeying authority. If I do not adhere to the curfew law‚ I know that I
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Obedience is an age old expectation that rulers‚ priests‚ and government officials have required for years from their subjects. Most of the time individuals follow their leaders without question. This is the case because the population from which obedience is required believes that they continue to have a choice. When‚ for whatever reason this belief is lost‚ some individuals will begin to exhibit an increasing disobedience to the requirement. This often increases to the point of violence or
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fight an unjust law through persuasion and to do so in a peaceful way. He also claims “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive‚ negotiation‚ self-purification and direct action‚” and Socrates does participate in the several of these actions to further his point. They both agree that in cases of unjust law‚ they should fight it (despite that one was willing to go further than another) but still respect the laws in place
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Unjust Justice: Juveniles Serving Life Without Parole The 14th amendment of Constitution of the United States grants every American Citizen the right of due process of the law. This right is being denied juveniles sentenced to “life without parole”. Recent Supreme Court rulings have held that “life without parole” is cruel and unjust punishment for those juveniles sentenced for non-homicidal crimes‚ because of limited capacity. Life without parole is essentially cruel and unjust punishment
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3 Strikes Crime Law: Unjust and Preposterous Nichole Burton COM/155 November 15‚ 2012 Brenda Granderson 3 Strikes Crime Law: Unjust and Preposterous The 3 Strikes Crime Law is one of the nation’s harshest sentencing laws. Are you aware that even non-violent criminals are sentenced to life in prison under the 3 Strikes Crime Law? More than 4‚000 non-violent criminals are currently serving life in sentence in prison in California alone. (Vega & Galloway‚ 2012). If you take these outrageous
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Looking at the death penalty system in action‚ it is fundamentally flawed in use and there is a serious risk of executing innocent people. Many unjust convictions have shown that serious flaws such as: Lack of eyewitness identification‚ False confessions‚ and the access to have DNA testing have caused our countries criminal justice system to convict many innocent individuals‚ who were sentenced to death. The most disturbing fact individuals are faced with today‚ is that innocent people have
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