The choice of civil disobedience and non-cooperation is not for everyone. Refusing citation, bail, fines or probation keeps protesters together, increasing the potential for collective bargaining.3) To extend the action: Going limp at arrest impedes the removal of the protesters, prolonging the disruption of business as usual.4) To demonstrate that the criminal justice system is part of the problem: It may be a corporation that is damaging the environment, jeopardizing all our lives and our children's future, but it is the criminal justice system that is legitimizing and supporting it.Civil disobedience is often an effective means of changing laws and protecting liberties. Do You Agree or Disagree With Euthanasia or Mercy Killing? Peaceful protest is quite possible in any society, and there is no need to go further into actual law breaking to make a point. We saw this in Ferguson, Missouri when riots occurred in conjunction with protests. Fundamentally, Civil disobedience is predicated on the idea that change should be effected through members of the public being insubordinate to the law. The Coronavirus and Civil Disobedience. It also embodies an important moral concept that there are times when law and justice do not coincide and that to obey the law at such times can be an abdication of ethical responsibility. As Thomas Jefferson said, “If a law is unjust a man is not only right to disobey it, He is obligated to do so. Many laws can look unjust to many other people, and they can all form groups to overthrow the laws, making many laws out of business. For example Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King jr. In all of these cases there was no other avenue open to redress grievances; law breaking, whether Ganhdi’s non-violent marches or King’s encouragement of the burning of rate books, was the only way to protest effectively. Morally reflective people have wrestled with the question of whether civil disobedience is ever morally justified, and if so, under what circumstances? We all choose to do what feels right to us personally. What is civil disobedience, and why can you do it? ... What example of civil Disobedience did Dr.farmer say and do in the jail scene? Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill have used civil disobedience for a good cause with Jews. Civil disobedience has a history of overcoming oppression and unpopular policies where all other methods have failed. I would never break the law! Eventually the police came and grabbed her. Acts of disobedience attract attention to a problem. This is insufficient for the opinions of the people to be heard properly, and in certain circumstances civil disobedience is a powerful method of making the will of the public count if it is being ignored. Protestors of the Blacks Lives Matter movement have blocked highways and disrupted businesses around the country, causing store owners, shoppers, trucks, cars, and municipal/emergency services to be stuck in the chaos, thus resulting in financial losses and loss of productivity.Furthermore, civil disobedience leads to outright destruction when a minority of protesters turn violent. Some people may say that civil disobedience causes violence, but a civil rebellion is different than civil disobedience. About Room for Debate. It's time for people to accept decisions made by their respective governments. What was the real college debate national champions that Wiley defeated? In conclusion, civil disobedience should not be morally justified. Both stood up for something they truly believed should have been changed and they both accepted that they had to go to jail. A law that they feel shouldn’t even be a law. Total damages amounted to $4.6 million. Civil disobedience is justified when laws made by humans are unjust. Whether civil disobedience is conducted in peaceful or violent ways, whether for just or unjust causes, arguments against the very principle of disregarding the existing laws remain widespread. No one has no reason to not protest against an unjust law. Some of the most well known of these are:The Boston Tea Party -- The Women's Suffrage MovementAbolition of slavery -- including Harriet Tubman's underground railway, giving sanctuary, and other actions which helped to end slavery.The Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. For example, Ghandi’s civil disobedience was instrumental in winning liberty for India, and Martin Luther King’s tactics won basic rights for black people in America. Even in democracies, we only have a chance to have a say in how the country is run every four years or so, and then only indirectly by voting for a political party. Before the debate began, a simple poll revealed that 62 percent of those in the audience who voted sided with Sellers. The novice resolution contains several phrases that most 9 th grade students will likely be unfamiliar with, most notably “civil disobedience.” Civil disobedience rarely comes up in our daily lexicon, and there exists substantial disagreement over its exact definition. Even in democracies, we only have a chance to have a say in how the country is run every four years …, Not every just cause can be pursued through the courts (e.g. They were suspended until they stopped wearing those. Even in cases where a case could theoretically be taken through legal channels, the courts are often controlled by the same political elite as the government, and there is no guarantee of justice. Should the Cell Phones Be Allowed in Schools. Supreme court justices speak with it as well. My contentions for why civil disobedience is morally justified: 1) Civil disobedience was instrumental and successful in bringing important changes throughout history of the United States. By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Civil disobedience should never be covert or secretive. This example shows that America, the greatest democracy, accommodates civil disobedience. In addition, it poses a dilemma for protesters who would prefer to communicate with the arresting officer, making it more difficult to communicate while being dragged across the ground.Reasons some protesters choose non-cooperation:1) Moral conviction: It would be wrong to be an accomplice to a procedure that supports what is morally unacceptable.2) To increase the likelihood that all protesters are treated equally: Refusing to give names so that everyone committing the same act will be treated equally and fairly in jail and in sentencing. An example from https://opentextbc. Contention I: Civil Disobedience posses an unacceptable threat to the rule of law. Such questions reflect more than merely theoretical concerns. A) Civil disobedience trivializes good laws even if it targets only bad laws. Civil disobedience should only ever be committed in public, openly, and with fair notice to legal authorities. the campaign for Indian indepence). The Boston Tea Party, the suffragette movement, the resistance to British rule in India led by Gandhi, the US civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and others, the resistance to apartheid in South Africa, student sit-ins against the Vietnam War, the democracy movement in Myanmar/Burma led by Aung San Suu Kyi, to name a few, are all instances where civil disobedience proved to be an important mechanism for social change. Even though civil disobedience isn't violent, It can lead to violence not only within different communities, But can involve government force. Civil disobedience as an essentially contested conceptOne of the more frustrating features of the contemporary debate about civil disobedience is its tendency to wage proxy theoretical wars on the basis of tendentious conceptual definitions. Look for the List of 98 Civil Disobedience Essay Topics at topicsmill.com - 2021. If a certain law is oppressive it cannot be opposed in principle but obeyed in practice out of concern for legality – it must be broken. The poll revealed that 14 percent of voting audience. 1. The U.S. Bill of Rights asserts that the authority of a government is derived from the consent of the governed, and whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the right and duty of the people to alter or abolish it.Throughout the history of the U.S., civil disobedience has played a significant role in many of the social reforms that we all take for granted today. This was because four colored males and others that had joined in on the protest, Felt that they should be treated like everyone else and they didn’t deserve the disrespect that they, And every other colored individual were given. It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees. In 1998 rioters in Indonesia successfully protested against the despotic system of government that existed under the Suharto regime. No cause is worth the sacrifice of innocent lives; protest must be peaceful or not at all. When is it justifiable for protesters and activists to break the law for the sake of their cause? 1 Throughout history there have been cases of civil disobedience that seem morally justified, including: the early Christian church’s refusal to obey the government’s command not to preach the gospel (Acts 4); Martin Luther King, Jr.’s refusal to obey … We have the rights of speech and to protest the government. People who are unhappy with such a law should take their struggle to the courts, rather than taking to the streets and undermining the rule of law itself. Their actions made an immediate and lasting impact making Woolworth’s and other foundations to change their segregation policies. Civil disobedience has the power to cause real change in society, law, government and even in foreign relations. Laws might be unfair or unjust which involves civil disobedience. I was doing Civil Disobedience!" No…, If a certain law is oppressive it cannot be opposed in principle but obeyed in practice out of conce…, Civil disobedience has a history of overcoming oppression and unpopular policies where all other met…, In actual fact, it is the conflict with the authority that gives the protest its power and urgency, …, Given a choice, anarchy is to be preferred to despotism. Even under the theory of social contract, the state can be resisted if it becomes oppressive and so breaks its side of the contract. ” She went to court twice for the issue but she lost both times. But to evaluate the legitimacy of the civil disobedience, one has to resist superficial analyses and ask how that inconvenience compares to the future suffering, and indeed the suffering already being caused, by environmental breakdown (Spratt and Dunlop, 2019; Nixon, 2013). When civilians protest against people who are given titles, it is very disrespectful. Com/, The Greensboro sit-ins led to the Woolworth department store chain to remove its policy of racial segregation in Southern United States. When the citizens of a country view their government as being unfair or corrupt, civil disobedience is sometimes necessary in order to correct society for the better. Does a constant cycle of law breaking with personal vindication ensue? She sat on the main floor which was meant for white people. Although it usually uses tactics of nonviolence, it is more than mere passive resistance since it often takes active forms such as illegal street demonstrations or peaceful occupations of premises. In Charlottesville, a peaceful protest became violent after one terrorist killed an innocent person. The province finally got rid of the laws that made it legal to treat colored people different than white people. Many countries don’t even allow civil disobedience in the first place.It becomes violent and illegalAlthough every human in the United States has the right to protest, we must take into account the safety of people. The moral justifications of civil disobedience are usually present in order to make the act acceptable. It is an attempt to influence society to accept a dissenting point of view. The suffragettes, the civil rights movement and the anti-Apartheid struggle are all examples of an eventually successful cause that won by its confrontation with authority, where more sedate methods would simply not have succeeded. Civil disobedience is a way for the ethnic and cultural minorities to ensure their voice is heard in the national political debate. Though it begs the question of what Thoreau would think of the statue of himself that now stands near Walden Pond. A better way to show you disagree with a policy or idea is to convey it in a mature way. Civil disobedience can include hunger strikes and self immolation. List of Cons of Civil Disobedience. We should also take into account the safety of those around us. It was established in the Nuremberg trials that sometimes international laws must override national ones. ” Nobody is going to respect a law that they don’t feel is right. Civil Disobedience is incorrect. Civil Disobedience is a sign of disobeying the law. Civil disobedience is what gave black people their rights as citizens, Freedom etc. In a democracy civil disobedience cannot be justified. Civil disobedience also leads to undesired, severe economic effects. The Supreme Court Justices agreed with their parents in a 7-2 decision. Someone has to break that law deliberately, in order to be arrested and prosecuted for it, so that the case arrives in court in the first place. Com Civil Disobedience means “the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, Characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting, Picketing, And nonpayment of taxes. The people who are engaging in civil disobedience are willing to undertake the legal consequences for their actions so their not just doing it and not willing to face the consequences for what they did. Those who advocate civil disobedience are usually careful to set boundaries on their actions, setting out what kind of disobedience is justified and what is unjustifiable. The Broadwater farm riots and the miner’s strike are both instances where groups have injured or killed policemen. Martin Luther King, for example, held that justice demanded that unjust laws (i.e. The people who do this are fighting for something they truly feel needs to be changed and there not just doing it to break the law. If civil disobedience becomes an accepted form of lobbying for a law change, does the law not become useless? Stressing non-violent civil disobedience, King had become the leader of the Civil Rights movement. Against powerful interest groups who dominate politics through their financial muscle and control of the media, civil disobedience is also the only way to get attention for a cause. Civil disobedience has a history of overcoming oppression and unpopular policies where all other met… In actual fact, it is the conflict with the authority that gives the protest its power and urgency, … Given a choice, anarchy is to be preferred to despotism. 2.2.1 Civil disobedience Within the topic literature, there is some disagreement as to what civil disobedience (hereafter ÒCDÓ) entails. About 20% of the time civil disobedience leads to, and causes violence. Some historians argue that the illegal activities of the suffragettes in the UK in the early 20th century actually set back their cause. Civil disobedience is fighting for what you believe is right. Using freedom of speech does not cause any harm to anyone as long as they are not being physical about it. The act of civil disobedience is not something that can hurt someone physically but is a fair and fully morally justified way of protesting an issue. Dictatorship countries don’t allow civil disobedience, and those leaders are hated across the whole country like Hitler and Jong-un. National laws cannot be the ultimate authority – men and women are also under higher laws. Civil disobedience involves breaking the laws that order daily life. Ca/ is when Viola Desmond, A Canadian Black Nova Scotian business woman, Challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia in 1946. The GovernmentDemocratic Governments accommodate civil disobedience. Even the most impressive writers counter opposing views by acts of definitional fiat. In conclusion, civil disobedience should be morally justified. And African Americans gained their civil rights in the 1960s through civil disobedience. The ultimate impact of more recent acts of civil disobedience – anti-abortion trespass demonstrations or acts of disobedience taken as part of the environmental movement and animal rights movement – remains to be seen.What is civil disobedience, and why can you do it?Civil disobedience is the refusal of obeying laws(can be a tax)without violence. Harvard sounded more impressive and gets an immediate response. And we are only going to get these laws by protesting. Albeit Thoreau's use of rhetorical questions contributes to persuasiveness by making the reader connect with the story's main point, which is to think about their views. interest in greater depth. This attitude is ultimately destructive to the moral authority of the state and the implementation of justice in that society; if anyone may protest the law by disobeying it, Then the law becomes hollow and social order is undefended. Civil Disobedience Essay Topics. 33 Their parents filed a lawsuit, which was sent to the Supreme Court in 1969. The racist attacks on the Chinese in the Indonesian riots also demonstrate how civil disobedience can break down into lawlessness, and indeed can be counter-productive by associating the cause with terror and violence. The civil disobedience movement was the most popular and organized mass movement of the freedom struggle. According to dictionary. Too often civil disobedience involves ‘productive violence’ directed against innocent members of the public, or against the police, often causing serious injuries. Laws might be unfair or unjust which involves civil disobedience. The act of civil disobedience can be noted in major works such as Sophocles’ Antigone and Dr King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. Besides an extraordinary amount of previously confidential information, Edward Snowden, Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning and other whistleblowers provided the general public with a more general insight: societies of our time quarrel with the concept of civil disobedience.