According to MLK, how can we tell the difference between just and unjust laws? Understanding these questions is the most important part of this module, and I will ask it again during our second exam.

According to MLK, we can tell the difference between a just and unjust law by following whether the law is morally sound at its core.  If a law demeans, belittles, or causes harm to others, one’s conscious should be able to tell it is unjust, while a just law will aim to protect all people equally.

In your view, is this an important distinction (between just and unjust laws), do you think it makes a difference in the way someone (as an individual, or our society as a whole) lives their lives? Can it affect our politics?

I think it is a very important distinction between just and unjust laws.  I feel that it can make a difference in the way that someone lives their life and that it can affect our politics heavily.  If a law is deemed by a community to be unjust, then they will likely campaign to make others aware of it and make efforts to change it.  A prime example in recent history was that gay marriage was not legally recognized across the entire country, though that did not stop lgbtq people from living their authentic lives with their partners even if some were more cautious about their visibility to maintain their safety.  The community fought to prove that the lack of marriage equality was unjust and was eventually able to gain legal protection for same sex marriage, showing a connection to politics.

Based on our discussion of Question 1, give an example each, of an unjust and just law, in the US today. Explain what makes it unjust or just (using MLK’s definition of those two types of laws).

An example of an unjust law would be Alabama’s Human Life Protection Act, which bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy, with no exceptions to be made for rape, incest, or mental illness.  It also made it a crime for doctors to perform abortions on patients, except in a case of medical emergency, though even those exceptions are difficult to prove.  This bill was initially stopped by federal court until 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned, allowing it to go into effect.  This is unjust because it stops those who are pregnant from being able to choose for themselves what to do in the case of needing an abortion and creates scenarios where they are more likely to engage in unsafe or unregulated measures if they are desperate for the procedure.  It is unjust because it creates a scenario where it can cause harm to those who need the procedure for a number of reasons with virtually no exceptions to be made.

An example of a just law would be traffic laws that create a series of rules and guidelines for drivers.  These are meant to be enacted equally among the driving population in order to create safety for everyone on the road by following the same speed limits, traffic signs, and general rules of the road.  They maintain the human condition by keeping all people safe, whether they be drivers or pedestrians, and do not single out any particular community or type of person in an unfair way.