Why Is Civil Disobedience Justified

We look at history and see that there are many cases that people have broken the law for a great cause. “ Non-violent civil disobedience is justified when there is a history of long- standing harm or violation of people’s fundamental rights, when legal and policy means have failed to reduce the harms and violations, and when there is little time remaining to address the problems” wrote University of New England professor John Lemons and Penn State 's Donald

Brown in April in the online version of Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics ( Civil

Disobedience Can Be Justified, 1 ). We see civil disobedience throughout our history books. From the Civil Rights movement to the end of the Vietnam War. So where do we draw the line in

“People from across the political spectrum love to praise civil disobedience, as long as we are talking about the past social movement,” argues U.S journalist Will Potter, author of Green is the New Red (When Breaking the Law Is

Justified, 1). “For instance, on the new memorial honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his activism, a bill was passed labeling civil disobedience as terrorism if it is done by animal rights and environmental activists,” stated and Insider 's Account of a Social Movement under

Siege. (When Breaking the Law Is Justified, 1). Sometimes the law is wrong and it is the only way to make an issue public . “Arnold Abbott handed out four plates of food to homeless people in a South Florida park. The police stopped the 90-year-old from serving up another bite. Abbott and two pastors in Ft Lauderdale, Fl were charged for feeding the homeless in public, the city’s first crackdown under a new ordinance banning public food sharing.” (CNN

90-year-old Florida man charged for feeding the homeless people, 1) Clearly the city has passed this ordinance so no one can share food in public. Why is this wrong, there is no one getting

The acquittals shocked both government and industry. The activist was found not guilty by reason on “lawful excuse” a judgment that opens the door for more climate justice civil disobedience. (When Breaking the Law Is Justified)

There is a difference between breaking the law to make a point and a mass protest of an entirely legal kind:

If Ghandi or Martin Luther King had been able to rally enough people they would have created enough publicity for their cause and they wouldn 't have had to break the law. In a democratic society, civil disobedience is never the only “ tool in the box.” In a democracy, the power tools are simply the legal channel. We find “loop hoes” in our laws everyday. We must look to two instances in which the legal channels were far more beneficial. Martin Luther King orchestrated a great showing in his march from Selma to Montgomery. The spotlight shines brightly on this march. Often revered as a great act of civil disobedience, the fact is that Martin Luther King acted completely within the law. The legal channels cleared the way for him to march, and the issue rose to national prominence. No where did civil disobedience occur, so we see that it is never the