Law-Breaking as Protest Essay

Luther King Jr. lived through the heat of the civil rights movement, and was a major contributor to the movement. The letter was a response to everyone who questioned his methods, like breaking laws. Martin Luther King Jr. explores the idea of how an unjust law is no law at all, as he is accused for being a criminal for breaking an unjust law, only set for African Americans. Examples of how inequality was at the time, are shown as an example of “Funtown” talking about how a little girl can’t go, because of her skin. It seeks to put the reader in the shoes of an African American, and make an understanding for why all groups should be equal. However, Barack Obama 50 years later made a speech on what happened in Selma, and to reflect on the progress…

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,…

as long as they do not infringe on other’s freedom and rights in the process (Butler 20), Since there is an underlying assumption that everyone is protected equally under the law, that the system gives equal opportunities for everyone to find justice in the judicial system and be heard in the legislative system, is there a need to practice civil disobedience? If there isn’t a point, then in a free society, peaceful resistance to laws only negativity impact a free society by undermining the…

that “Congress shall make no law … abridging … the right of the people peaceably to assemble.” While creating the framework for America’s new society, James Madison endowed Americans with the right and duty to gather and express themselves. These First Amendment freedoms are the highest forms of resistance protected by the Constitution. But what happens when the Constitution permits the suppression of rights? This was what Civil Rights activists faced in the years after the Supreme Court’s…

As if law enforcement officers didn't have a hard enough, now they have to deal with people rioting about the things they do “wrong”. For example, the first protest after a teenage boy was shot and killed after a police officer confronted him about a robbery, witnesses say that their was a struggle between the two and the officer proceeded to shot when he feared for his life. Social media began to post pictures of the “innocent boy” when in fact those pictures were outdated and didn’t show who…

help move forward toward a more democratic country. (knapp) Peaceful resistance to laws affects our free society in a positive way. “Civil disobedience is the act of opposing a law one considers unjust and peacefully disobeying it while accepting the consequences.”(Based on we the students) When people break a law, they are usually aware that they are breaking it along with knowing what consequences they are going to have to face due to breaking that law. Since morals are a concept that most…

Breaking the law is never right as citizens we are born into laws which we must obey. As a citizen of the United States you have freedom of speech and the right to an opinion and also the right to protest peacefully. Disobeying the law peacefully or not is breaking the law and under any circumstances should you break the law and breaking the law comes with consequences and those consequences you receive should be handled in the proper way for the positive out come for you disobeying the law. The…

Anyone can recognize when a law is unjust - but can they be brave enough to face the consequences if they choose to protest that law? Should they? Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” critiques that citizens must protest a law that is unjust, and his own experiences and methods for protest, and Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” where he speaks of his approach to protesting against unjust laws, even if it lands him in jail. Both philosophers regarding on their answers on…

Some may say it is never morally acceptable to break the law. Plato supported this claim in Crito through Socrates, the main character with the option of escaping from prison. He was imprisoned and sentenced by the Athenian court to death for corrupting the youth. His friend Crito challenges Socrates with various arguments as to why he should break the law by escaping from prison. Opposed, some say it is morally acceptable to break the law. Martin Luther King would support this position. King…

whether it be through war or peace. Millions of people have protested unjust laws, gone to war against tyrannical governments, and fought for the freedom of themselves and others. And in the modern day, as news spreads globally faster than ever before, people are always hearing about injustices, whether they be oppression of free speech in China, oppression of immigrants in America, or oppression of homosexuality in the Middle East. One method that people have devised to help stem the tide of…