Modern Era
Martin Luther King Jr.
1929–1968 · Civil disobedience
A just law is a code a majority compels a minority to follow but does not follow itself.
In their words
“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
King's Letter from Birmingham Jail set out the standard for civil disobedience: an unjust law degrades human personality, and one who breaks it must do so openly, willingly accepting the penalty. His campaigns showed that coercion can be resisted by people who refuse to be coerced into hating. Near the end he turned to poverty and war, which cost him more support than segregation ever had.
Why it matters for freedom
He argued that a law which degrades a person is not law but force, and named the limit that no majority can cross.
Who they stood against
Jim Crow and the sheriffs who called segregation order