Tayhana Taylor, World News Editor
Laws are typically implemented to protect the rights of people. But sometimes, laws can be unjust and favor a specific group in society. Sometimes “good people” may see the need to break a law they find immoral. So, can legality and morality be in the same boat? The short answer is no.
“From a political science perspective, legality carries governmental consequences and power,” said Frank Orlando, political science instructor and director of Saint Leo University’s Polling Institute. “In a democratic society, people agree on a set of laws. Those who decide to break these laws get punished.”
For example, the Trump supporters who stormed Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, may have thought they were acting morally by contesting the certification of the 2020 presidential election. But, over 700 of the people involved were arrested and over 100 were found guilty of various criminal offenses.
Regardless of a society’s political ideology, laws have no moral premise. Morality focuses on ethics, which is whether something is right or wrong—this is sometimes subject to personal or societal beliefs.
“Laws are not always morally good, nor are they morally bad,” said Orlando. “Laws are just things that society has agreed upon to decide what is allowed and what is not allowed.”
During the late 1800s in the United States, Jim Crow laws were implemented by White Southern politicians. Jim Crow laws were racially motivated as they forbade Black people from living in white neighborhoods, using the same water fountain as their white counterparts, and so on.
Although these laws may have been immoral from an African American perspective, they were what those in power agreed upon to be allowed.
The concept of lying is an example of morality differing from legality. Morally, lying is viewed as wrong, but people cannot be arrested or charged for lying unless they lie under oath. Lying under oath is a severe criminal offense because it goes against one of the justice system’s goals—unveiling the truth.
“Lying, in general, does not land you in jail, but it may break a moral rule,” said Orlando. “Things like adultery is not illegal, but it goes against most people’s moral code of conduct.”
When it comes to breaking the law, there are legal consequences decided by those in power. But that is not the case for defying a moral code.
“Morality has personal consequences, but legality has to do with government control,” said Orlando. “A country has one set of laws, but there are myriad of morals existing in one society.”
Although laws are supposed to benefit everyone, some aspects may stem from morality.
“Legal codes can come from ideas about morality, but the two are not synonymous,” said Orlando.
Dr. Timothy Jussaume, associate professor of philosophy and director of Saint Leo’s Honors Program, said that legality and morality overlap in some cases.
“Sometimes we feel we have a duty to follow the law, and sometimes we think we have a duty to follow our moral beliefs,” said Jussuame.
Some philosophers view morality as a set of laws.
“From a philosophical perspective, morality is a law; it is just not a civil law passed by the government,” said Jussaume. “The Ten Commandments, for example, can be framed as a set of laws. You have philosopher like Immanuel Kant who believes this.”
Philosopher Kant views law, duty, and obligation as the heart of morality.
“Kant believes the right thing to do is never to make an exception of yourself and follow the moral rules,” said Jussaume. “In an ideal society, those moral rules are the same rules that the government would pass as laws.”
Regarding breaking the law, people sometimes violate the law to uphold their personal moral beliefs because laws can be unjust.
“Throughout history, we have seen where people of strong moral conscience who want to do the right thing break the law as a part of their moral obligation,” said Jussaume. “We even continue to witness that in today’s society.”
When Adolf Hitler reigned in Germany, some laws went against morals, and people who broke these immoral and unjust laws would face harsh consequences.
Jussaume mentioned that, “If you lived in Germany during the time of the Nazi party in the 1940s and the laws said you cannot protect people who would be sent to concentration camps, then the right thing to do would be to break the law and help.”
When a person chooses to break the law because the morally correct thing to do goes against the law, one can expect to reap the punishments of breaking the law.
There are instances where morality trumps legality, but before a person decides to break the law, they must consider the implications of their actions, whether moral or not.
