Today we still see double standards in the enforcement of laws. There has, over the years, been an organized movement to offer the same access to and rights of a legal marriage for same sex couples. Marriage laws have been called “unjust” by some, because it does not allow same sex couples to exact a legal marriage.

In California and some other states, elected officials have “disobeyed” laws by issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. In 2004, San Francisco’s Mayor Newsom justifies issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples by invoking the pledge he took upon taking office as mayor. The Mayor stated, "Upon taking the Oath of Office and becoming the Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, I swore to uphold the Constitution of the State of California. Article I, Section 7, subdivision (a) of the California Constitution provides that "[a] person may not be . . . denied equal protection of the laws." This example of "civil disobedience is just and should have been used in every US state.

Although Martin Luther King is not the author of the now well-known excerpt “…an unjust law is no law at all...” his reference to St. Thomas Aquinas’ words in his letter is regularly cited to support legal arguments, and social commentary on equality and social justice. King’s effective use of the St. Thomas Aquinas quote has caused it to be widely used for more than forty years to influence understanding and acceptance of equal protection under the law and justification for acts of civil disobedience.