In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” one of the most prominent issues discussed is the definition of just and unjust laws. King provides a concrete example of what he believes to be the difference between the two. He writes:
An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. (17)
According to king, a law is unjust if a majority creates it in order to restrict a minority. Likewise, a just law is one that is followed by everyone in society.
Relating this example to life today, it has come to my attention that curfews are unjust laws. A curfew is a time in which minors (persons under the age of eight-teen) may no longer be allowed out of a residency without an adults’ company. This is unjust to minors for two reasons. First of all, referring to King’s example, the law is unjust because a majority group, adults, puts it into place, which restricts the right of minors to stay out past a certain time. This is a representation of inequality, and is also purely based off the stereotype that teenagers are only out late to cause trouble.
Secondly, curfew is unjust because the people it affects are not allowed to vote in order to change it. King discusses this in his letter. He writes, “A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law” (18). This is perfectly true in this case. Minors are restricted the right to vote due to lack of age, and therefore never enacted, or will ever be able to rule against the law. So, based on the fact that the majority in this circumstance created the law to restrict the minority group and the fact that the minority group cannot change it, curfew is an unjust law.
1 comment:
I disagree that the curfew law is unjust. The people who the law affects are not allowed to decide whether the law should be a law or not because the law is looking out for the minor’s best interest. Curfew laws were originally passed to keep juvenile delinquency down, but today the law offers minors protection from others. People who choose to drive drunk not only put their own life in danger, but also the lives of other motorists they may encounter. The curfew law can protect minors from being killed by drunk drivers. Drunk drivers drive late at night and early in the morning. These are the hours that the law forbids minors to be out without a parent or other reasons, such as emergencies. Since the minors should be home, their safety will not be at risk. If children and teenagers were allowed to decide on the laws that governed their life there would not be any. It is adult’s responsibility to have the best interest of minors in mind when laws like the curfew law are being passed. Many parents give their children curfews regardless of whether curfew laws exist in the area where they live, and children have little say in those as well. The restriction of the curfew law on the minors is for their own good.
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