Law 101: Civil Disobedience Must Be Peaceful

Letter to Romans: Minnesota chaos has led to the blind, including its gov, to insist they have their eye on the real Rule of Law. To set the record straight: ICE agents enforcing federal law have supreme authority under the US constitution & protesters do not have a right to resist arrest. But …

To repeat the obvious: History & court precedents have clearly established that a citizen (and certainly an illegal alien) generally does not have a right to physically resist arrest no matter how wrong the arresting officer may have been in putting on the cuffs. Protesters, e.g., are required to obey on duty officers and to challenge their authority and/or alleged excessive use of force later, i.e., in court via such things as a habeas corpus petition, lawsuit for alleged false arrest and/or civil rights violations; in rare instances, an abusive officer may find himself being charged with a crime. Yet,, by spitting on an officer you can get additional charges levelled against yourself like resisting arrest or assault or worse (e.g., if you use a truck to ram them). True, everyone (including officers) have a right to self-defense and the law generally allows peaceful protesters to use “reasonable and equal” force in defending themselves. BUT that real time street judgement is almost always a tricky call. And any lawyer who tells a would-be civil disobedient otherwise, is putting him or her on thin “ice” as well as in great legal (and even physical) jeopardy, as unfolding events are proving.

The best advice a responsible lawyer can give (and the late great Rev. Martin Luther King Jr would arguably have endorsed): Avoid physical confrontations with any officer trying to do their job, but if it’s unavoidable, use common sense in diffusing the confrontation rather than escalating it; if it comes to being arrested, accept it as a necessary part of engaging in a supposedly righteous “civil disobedience” cause. Then, assuming you have the courage of your convictions and are willing to put your money where your mouth is, call your lawyer and bring your wallet to the next steps strategy session. It’s democracy and justice in America.

Davd Soul