Opponents of civil disobedience see it as a threat to democratic society and the forerunner of violence and anarchy. The premise... to disobey a law that they feel is unjust. As martin luther king Jr. , wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, "I submit that an individual who breaks a law that his conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law. " Civil disobedience is most justifiable when prior lawful attempts to rectify the situation have failed; and when the acts of civil disobedience are done to force the society to recognize the problem; when performed openly and publicly; and when the actor will accept the punishment. Many proponents urge that civil disobedience be used only in the most extreme cases, arguing that the Constitution provides many opportunities to voice one's grievances without breaking the law.
Martin Luther King Jr. states “Oppressed People cannot remain oppressed forever.” (Cahn, 2009 p. 387) As we have seen throughout history, this is a true statement. Oppression is not something that sits well with any type of person that is under the oppression. To resist the oppression, one must carefully chose those laws that they fill are unjust and oppresses them, and once they are chosen then one can make a stand against the oppression. Oppression is unjust law that limits the power of the people that are oppressed into feeling powerless. The United States fought of the oppression over the colonies in the late 1700’s by first peacefully protesting the unjust taxes waged against them.
This classification makes sense because if crime is caused by terrorists; terrorist will cause crimes. If the majority of minorities are in prisons, then people of color will end up in prison. On the opposing side of racial profiling, many minorities feel that it is a form of racial discrimination that only hurts the good image law enforcement upholds. For example, the California Highway Patrol has recently been taken to court for the misuse of racial profiling. Therefore, a compromise must be made because it would be ideological to believe that there can be a government that bans the use of racial identification.
He believed it was “a crime for anyone who is being brutalized to continue to accept that brutality without doing something to defend himself.” This corresponds with the second amendment in the United States Constitution: the right of individuals to keep and bear arms. Therefore, when someone is in an hostile environment, he or she can use violence a gun to defend or protect others. Also,“when the laws fails to protect Negroes from whites’ attack, then those Negroes should use arms, if necessary, to defend themselves.” During the 1960s, there were countless of Sibley 2 African American’s getting persecuted and lynched just because of their skin color. Nonviolence would not protect anyone when a member of the KKK, or other extreme racists, would come toward someone with murderous and homicidal
Stephen L. Carter wrote in “The Rules about the Rules” that “integrity requires 3 steps: (1) discerning what is right and what is wrong; (2) acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost; and (3) saying openly that you are acting on your understanding of right from wrong.” During a major protest of unfair business practices in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King was arrested and put into jail for his actions. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he gave evidence of Stephen L. Carter’s definition of integrity. “Discerning what is right and what is wrong.” In 1954, the Supreme Court came to the decision to outlaw segregation in public schools. Even though this was Federal Law, the community still chose to obey the city ordinances of segregation. Dr. King stated that for the African-American people there was “grossly unjust treatment in the courts, and there were more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than any other city in the nation.” Despite strong efforts made from the leaders in the African-American community, the city fathers refused time and time again to engage in any type of “good-faith negotiation.” “Acting on what you discern, even if at personal cost.” Taking action is what Dr. King did.
Perspectives on Torture and the War on Terrorism Perspectives on Torture and the War on Terrorism Yoo defined torture as an act committed upon a person with specific intensions to cause him/her severe mental or physical pain or suffering by another person acting under the color of law, and has his custody or physical control. This pain must not be as a result of lawful sanctions. This type of definition that Yoo uses is “threatening” and is unlawful. President Obama however, would oppose the use of torture. On the other hand, Luban, would say Yoo ignores the law models and war models if they deny terrorist suspects protection as required.
Thoreau wrote the Essay on Civil Disobedience, in which he addressed the question, “when do larger moral imperatives justify violating a law supported by the majority”. His response was that when a law “… is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law’’. This follows from basic English Common Law, in which you can do something as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else. Thoreau’s philosophy is that you disobey a command (law) when it is hurting someone else. Another area of his thinking is that government is symbolic of a ‘machine’, and man should commit non-violent disobedience to ‘gain access to the machine’.
The American Civil Liberties Union holds that the death penalty inherently violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment and the guarantee of due process of law and the equal protection of the laws. The imposition of the death penalty is inconsistent with fundamental values of our democratic system. The state should not arrogate unto itself the right to kill human beings, especially when it kills with premeditation and ceremony. We shall therefore continue to seek to prevent executions and to abolish capital punishment by litigation, legislation, commutation, or by the weight of a renewed public outcry against this brutal and brutalizing institution. Opponents of capital punishment say it has no deterrent effect on crime, wrongly gives governments the power to take human life, and spreads social injustices by disproportionately targeting people of color (racist) and people who cannot afford good attorneys (classist).
King says to black people wait almost always meant "never" and "justice too long delayed is justice denied." 6. King finds it illogical that the actions of his followers precipitate violence because it’s like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery and society should protect the robbed and punish the robber. Purpose and Audience 1. In the first paragraph, King establishes his setting as the Birmingham City Jail and defines
This also gives the police the chance to brutalise the blacks which would damage the image of black people as the white citizens wouldn’t want to help the black if they are involved in violence. So Malcolm X use of violence would lose him supporters for his campaign, which will decrease his campaigns popularity and so the federal government would have no reason to support the demands of the black civil rights. Another organisation also worked to introduce the idea of self-defence. The BPP argued that black people needed an organised defence as they could not trust the police or the US justice system. According to Huey Newton a leader of the BPP the police ‘occupied’ the black ghettos, so the BPP organised its own peoples’ army who patrolled black neighbourhoods