Martin Luther King: Breaking The Law

Throughout the history of the United States, much has been accomplished through American citizens exercising their constitutional rights. There are cases of great leaders, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who led peaceful protests against laws and policies that were both unfair and unconstitutional. King was able to unite people and successfully end laws that were unjust. While there are great examples of those who peacefully exercised their rights to assembly and free speech, there were other more extreme cases which did not end peacefully. Although we, as American citizens, have the constitutional right to stand up and exercise our first amendment rights when we deem necessary, the protections of our rights by the Constitution should, and actually do, go only so far. Sometimes, by exercising the rights expressed in the Bill of Rights, people may end up breaking the law. Breaking the law, as seen in the Civil Rights Movement, can lead to positive change. However, it is unacceptable to disobey the law to the point that ends up causing harm to others.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” King was a firm believer that American society would never advance or become equal without the impact of standing up to the injustice that occurred. Because of King’s beliefs, the …show more content…
While protesting laws counts as free speech, placing others in danger by blatantly ignoring laws that aim to protect is unacceptable. The constitution should, and does, only protect free speech as long as it is peaceful and not dangerous. Violent resistance that puts others in danger only incites more fear, and doesn’t lead to any progress. Therefore, resisting laws only positively impacts free society provided it does not cause harm to others. Peaceful resistance has been shown to spur positive change in free societies such as America, and will continue to do