Civil Disobedience Essay

“The language of rights now dominate political debate,” begins Ronald Dworkin’s paper “A Special Supplement: Taking Rights Seriously” (Dworkin 1). Such a sentiment still rings true today, with discussions regarding what should constitute protected speech being especially prominent. Historically, other rights have been debated as well, such as the right to participate in civil disobedience. Civil disobedience was prominent during the civil rights movement, with the most famous advocate being Dr. Martin Luther King. Notably, in his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he states his views that civil disobedience is a responsibility (King 3). This paper will examine and compare King’s and Dworkin’s views on civil disobedience as a responsibility

Because unjust laws are invalid by virtue of being unjust, there is an obligation to disobey them in order to have a society that treats all of its members equally (“Martin Luther King, Jr.: Letter from Birmingham Jail.” 12-13). Such reasoning is supported by King noting that black Americans “have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights” and yet are still subject to many injustices (King 3). Clearly, the state of laws prior and during the civil rights movement were so terrible that taking no action against their existence was an implicit declaration that black Americans were not moral equals, which went against the constitutional and other rights that they possessed. Furthermore, King reiterates in the letter that while the civil rights movement has tried other avenues of change, freedom “must be demanded by the oppressed” and that the only way to change such unjust laws was by bringing attention to them via civil disobedience (King 3). Thus, civil disobedience was necessary in such cases to end unjust laws. Given that King clearly believed unjust laws must be ended, civil disobedience was therefore in his view a moral responsibility. King also highlights that throughout history there have been many laws that permitted injustice and that law enforcement has acted brutally towards the people it prosecutes

Like King, I feel that citizens in a democracy have a duty to uphold the ideal of equality for all citizens, and one way to do that is to perform acts of civil disobedience. By performing such acts, citizens can sanction the government by delegitimizing government authority and therefore help shape a society that is more equal and in line with their wishes. While beyond the scope of this paper, there are also arguments to be made regarding how all of us should advocate for the rights of others as we all have a general duty to humanity, which can in part fulfill via acts of civil disobedience. However, in a society where civil disobedience is penalized, the barrier against performing such actions is so high that it may result in nothing happening at all. Take for example the laws being proposed in some states which say that teachers and other mandatory reporters would be required to report students’ transgender identity, even if the student wishes to stay closeted and/or there is reason to believe that the student will be harmed if news of their transgender identity were to be made public (Seldin). If these laws are passed, mandatory reporters could be at risk for losing their livelihoods if they comply with a young transgender’s person wish to stay closeted (Seldin). As King discusses in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” unjust laws like the one previously described essentially remove people’s moral