Laws are enacted to control the way people conduct themselves or relate to one another in society. The application of any law should be done in such a way that any party subjected to the rule of law is treated fairly, and with the dignity, they deserve (Rohr, 2017). Laws can be just or unjust depending on the nature of their enforcement. Dr. King points out that the difference between just and unjust law lies in the application of the said law. Legal rules are made to ensure justice prevails in the community. Just laws should, therefore, strive to ensure that the fundamental rights of all individuals in the societyare protected equally. In his “letter from Birmingham jail,” Dr. King says that “any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (Rieder, 2014).
According to Dr. King’s explanation, unjust laws can cause a situation whereby some people feel superior to others while some people feel inferior to others. Unjust laws give the oppressors power to continue relegating the oppressed to the status of things thus damaging their personality ( Radin, 2017) . Just laws compel everyone to obey and are binding to all groups of people, be it the majority or the minority. In Dr. King’s words, such kind of law results in a situation he calls “sameness made legal.” Unjust laws, on the other hand, encourage bias and discrimination and are not binding to all. Dr. King refers to such a situation as “difference made legal” ( Rieder, 2014).
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References
Radin, M. J. (2017). Reconsidering the rule of law. In The Rule of Law and the Separation of Powers (pp. 37-76). Routledge.
Rieder, J. (2014). Gospel of Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle That Changed a Nation . Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Rohr, J. (2017). Ethics for bureaucrats: An essay on law and values . Routledge.
