Broken Laws
Broken Laws
In theory, legislatures pass laws and people obey. In practice, there are laws that no one obeys, laws that call the legitimacy of law into question altogether, and laws that, if we obey them, we do so in something less than a law-abiding spirit. This series from 2004 considers them. Note: These pieces are a little heavy on the philosophy and the law. If you find them too dense, don’t go away mad! Just read something else.
These columns include:
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Unforgivable Laws (February 2004) are laws that give law a bad name. They do not and cannot bind the conscience. The only problem: Everyone has his/her own list of unforgivable laws.
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Debatable Laws (March 2004) are laws lots of people support and lots of people disagree with. How you do or do not comply helps determine how legitimate these laws are.
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Inconvenient Laws (April 2004) are the rules of the road, literally and figuratively. No one seriously disputes we need them, but no one follows them all the time. What does this tell us?