People change, laws change.

Hi audience- I am on to my next class which has journals instead of blogs but I will keep sharing with you because I love you soooo much. 


What are the sources of law? What is the meaning of law as it has evolved in the United States? What has caused these laws to evolve? Are there situations when breaking a law is acceptable? Provide examples to support your answers.

Laws are created by our government. The US government as we see it now was formed by the signing of the Constitution in 1787. The three branches of government, executive, judicial and legislative, all create laws in different ways. Technically, the whole purpose of the legislative branch is to create laws. Laws are then amended by the judicial branch or executive. Laws are created to protect people from each other and from the government, and to ensure efficiency of government bodies. Government has grown with our country and thus our laws have changed. When America was first formed our population was all of 3,929,214 and there are now about 318,679,000  Americans ("Demographic History of the United States," 2014). The size of land governed by our laws and the cultures protected have changed and grown. Early America was not the melting pot it is today. Our nation's religious morals have changed. Technology's growth has changed how laws and crimes can be carried out.  Our most basic government structure and inalienable rights have not changed since we signed the Constitution. But the laws pertaining to our rights and how they are limited have changed. Some of us that were not granted equal rights in the Constitution had to fight to get them much later. It only makes sense with how much change the world has seen that our laws have also evolved.

Of course there are times when you should break laws. If our laws were perfect they would never have to change. Sometimes breaking the law illuminates that is it not just and proper. Some laws have been abandoned over time, such as sodomy laws, which shows that sometimes laws are not correct. Through out prohibition people everywhere were breaking that law and it lead to that laws repeal. Before Roe v Wade illegal abortions were commonplace. This was unfortunate because it lead to unnecessary deaths but sometimes saved lives of women that would have had to resort to other options. The deaths highlighted the public health implications of keeping this otherwise safe and normal procedure out of the realm of regulation. Civil disobedience can be acceptable when carried out the right way. Some people would argue that the large amount of protest helped bring an earlier withdrawal from Vietnam. Although we have a right to protest, many people look extraordinary measures. Everyone today would say that civil disobedience in the civil rights demonstrations was acceptable, even if they didn't agree at the time.

Demographic history of the United States. (2014, August 30). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_the_United_States