Legal Definitions - civil disobedience

Civil disobedience refers to the intentional act of breaking a law in a nonviolent manner to protest a specific law or government policy that the individual or group believes is unjust or immoral. The primary goal is to draw public attention to the perceived injustice and encourage societal or legal change, rather than to cause harm or evade justice.

• Example 1: Environmental Protest

  A group of environmental activists peacefully sits down in the middle of a public road, blocking traffic, to protest the construction of a new fossil fuel pipeline. They are aware they are breaking traffic laws and obstructing public passage, but they do so without violence or aggression.

  This illustrates civil disobedience because the activists are deliberately breaking a law (obstructing traffic) in a nonviolent way. Their purpose is to draw public and governmental attention to their belief that the pipeline project is environmentally harmful and morally wrong, hoping to prompt a change in policy.

• Example 2: Social Justice Sit-in

  During a period when certain public facilities were segregated by race, an individual of a minority group intentionally enters and sits at a "whites-only" lunch counter, refusing to leave when asked. They remain calm and do not engage in any physical confrontation, knowing they are violating local segregation ordinances.

  This is an act of civil disobedience because the individual is deliberately breaking a discriminatory law (segregation ordinance) through a nonviolent act (refusing to leave). Their intent is to highlight the injustice and immorality of segregation and to challenge the legitimacy of such laws, aiming for their repeal.

• Example 3: Whistleblowing for Transparency

  A software engineer, concerned about government surveillance programs, intentionally publishes encrypted data online that reveals the existence of a secret government data collection program, despite knowing that doing so violates a national security secrecy act. The engineer's motivation is to inform the public and spark a debate about privacy rights, not to aid adversaries.

  This demonstrates civil disobedience as the engineer deliberately breaks a specific law (secrecy act) in a nonviolent manner (publishing information). The act is intended to call attention to a government program believed to be an overreach and morally questionable regarding privacy, with the aim of prompting public discourse and potential policy reform.