Civil Disobedience And Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Civil Disobedience And Law - Essay Example Civil Disobedience And Law The legal system in the United States was originally founded on the principle of natural law. The term natural law is used to refer to those rules and regulations that have been set by the nature and are said to exist throughout the universe. The natural laws are based on the premise that there are certain rights that have been awarded to human beings by God or by nature since the time of their birth. The rights may not be recognized by the constitution or the legal system of a particular region but they do exist and it is implied that all human beings have these rights. This even means that those laws and regulations that may be created by a particular nation and its policy makers cannot be considered as just laws if these laws result in the infringement of the natural rights of a human being. Even the constitution of the United States of America protects certain natural rights of every human being in an explicit manner under the document of Bill Of Rights. Dr. King set out in his letter from Birmingham Jail how disappointed he was in the white moderate and their lack of activism â€Å"I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride towards freedom is†¦the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice†. Dr. King makes the distinction between just and unjust laws, a just law being a â€Å"man-made code that squares with the moral law†.