Responses to Discussion Posts Topic: Obidience to Authority and The Power of Self-justification
Discussion post 1: Edna
Your observation about the prevalent injustice in the civil system could not be further from the truth. In this case, the oppressors normally take advantage of the popular belief that law enforcers could never break the law. It is not so hard to see why the ordinary citizen, who respects both the law and its custodian (the police), sides with such injustices. More recently, illegal police checks have become a real threat to the Fourth Amendment, by denying people the right to privacy. Even jurors understand how wrong this is, but this has not stopped them from admitting evidence connected to such cases. People who see the Lucifer effect as it is and speak against it often make little difference. Justice Sotomayor has been dissenting the admission of such evidence since late last year, but so far she has not succeeded. The same case goes for the Alton Sterling case. It solicited outcry from minority groups, but as long as the minority accepts authority without questioning, such injustice will remain unresolved.
Discussion post 2: Carolina
Although your observation about police using excessive force because of illegitimate laws in interesting, I have a slightly different observation. I think that police are just like every other person. And everyone who is in a position of power will abuse it when need or opportunity arises. They make illegal U turns, unauthorized stops, and later speed on the highway. Some of them even abuse their spouses. In short, they act like normal people would. However, they are under scrutiny from the people whom they serve since we expect them to be the best of the best when it comes to serving people. As such, people should refrain from being arrogant and expressing resentment against the police but rather uphold dignity. The only exception I have for this rule of treating policemen like normal human beings is for ex-military persons. They were specifically trained to shoot first and then ask questions later. They should not be allowed in the police force since they are more aggressive than normal …
