From: andie nachgeborenen
-clip- Law is free standing if what makes a law legally legitimate, that is, binding because it is the law, is itself a legal fact
^^^ CB: Now there's a legal sentence.
^^
But the justification cannot be not wholly legal, because after all dictatorial institutions, which do not create legitimate laws (I am leaving out a lot of complexity here), also have a legal embodiment. It is because democratic institutions are the (morally) fairest and tend to lead to the politically best outcomes that laws passed by democracies are legitimate even if they are not, the particular instance, morally acceptable
^^^^^ CB: This is the reason that laws are legitimate to whom ? There are not a lot of people who think , "I must follow this law because it was passed by the best procedures humanly possible."
Most people who have a personal conflict with a particular law applied to them,(i.e. who must do something that they don't want to do) comply with that law despite its adverse impact on their interests, because they think something bad is going to or is likely to happen to them, like going to jail or losing money or some other material interest adversely impacted, if they don't obey the law. They think this more or less vaguely and accurately.
Most people don't think the law has some special injunctive force because it was passed by good procedures.
Lets start naming some specific "laws" that people "obey".
Stop light Prohibition on murder Urinating in public Driving on the right side of the street Income tax Disorderly conduct Cabaret license Anti-dumping laws Drinking under age Larceny Offering to engage Child support Non-payment of rent Public nudity Possession of controlled substances Counterfeiting Driving with a license Driving with insurance Street peddler license Michigan state law prohibiting strikes by public employees Unfair labor practices Adultery ( felony still on the books in Michigan) Fiduciary duties Negligence