- Martin Luther King, in his famous "Letter from the
Birmingham Jail," called on all Americans to actively but peacefully
oppose laws that were morally wrong. King wrote:
- "There are just laws and there are unjust laws.
I would agree with St. Augustine that an unjust law is no law at all...
One who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly...I submit that
an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and
willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience
of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very
highest respect for law."