Peaceful Resistance To Civil Rights

The right to peaceful resistance in America can be tied back to our nation’s true beginning: The Declaration of Independence. The document proclaims that it is the “Right of the people to alter or abolish” a government in order to create a safer and more secure system (Mirkin 64). With this ideology in mind, our forefathers crafted the Constitution, and created the Bill of Rights to establish clarity on the liberties granted

From the time we are children and throughout the duration of our lives, we are told to abide by certain sets of rules. In most situations this is a perfectly acceptable expectation; speed limits, remaining quiet in libraries, and waiting until the age of twenty-one to drink are all reasonable things to ask of people. After all, these rules and laws are put in place to ensure a peaceful and safe society. However, when these rules begin to infringe upon the rights of certain groups, some citizens turn to civil disobedience as a form of protest. While some may argue that civil disobedience is nothing more than a violation of the law, it has also proven to have a positive impact on society, in more ways than one. Used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin

Government surveillance entails the subjection of citizens to arbitrary monitoring by the government thereby impeding their privacy rights. It is a subject that has attracted a fair share of criticism in the American political scene due to issues regarding the citizen’s confidentiality and the willingness of Americans to cooperate with this activity for security purposes. Therefore, this paper explores the legal basis of the privacy rights by making reference to the chapter on Civil liberties. An analysis of the video link is made to determine the integrity of the Supreme Court’s ruling on privacy and the justification of whether Edward Snowden is a gallant whistle blower or a traitor.

Describing the program and how it works may have provided threats inside information on how to get around the systems protection in order to conduct a successful cyber attack. It is quite obvious that the information of the American people being spied on by it’s own country is great information to have, a debate those who are involved are free to do so, but it is possible that the manner in which he choose to do so, could have been done in a completely different way. Whether his employer Booz Allen received his emails or not, which of course they claimed they did not, Snowden being in the intelligence field could have found another way to, a safer way, to expose the program used against the American people. His wanting to expose the truth brought forth the debate of whether the surveillance program was legal. During the Obama administration, it prompted the action of reviewing the Patriots Act, more specifically whether it was legal or illegal to survey citizens without their knowledge, a warrant or permission and be used against them in the case of criminal activity was being conducted. It became inevitable that there was something amidst with the program and The Obama administration did make necessary changes to the Patriot Act deeming it illegal to invade the

Snowden was supposed to keep secrets as a technical contractor at the CIA and the NSA. As an employee he was obligated to listen to his bosses even if he disagreed. This time, he did not! “By deciding to unilaterally leak secret

There are gray areas in all our lives; we hesitate when deciding the legality of selling organs to critical patients, euthanasia and assisted suicide, or even animal testing. Civil disobedience is no exception. Participants peacefully and purposefully infringe the law that they see as unjust in hopes of leading policymakers to reform the law or policy. Despite the repercussions, peaceful resistance makes a profound impact on a free society as shown by Norwegians during World War II and Americans in the Women’s Marches after President Trump’s inauguration.

Edward Snowden, a twenty-nine-year-old former C.I.A. technical assistant, has disclosed information concerning the National Security Agency programs and their surveillance practices. It has been revealed that the FBI and NSA are allowed to spy on hundreds of millions of innocent Americans, that the NSA can keep information on a U.S. citizen for up to five years without a warrant, and that the NSA watches and surveils other countries and global leaders clandestinely. Edward Snowden, albeit he may be considered a criminal for leaking such information, is a more a whistleblower as he unveiled information about the government and the NSA that is considered unjustifiable and illegal.

Snowden had leaked the intelligence community to the public. According to the article Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower, “ Mr. Snowden leaked this information that provided whistleblower protection to the intelligence community for the first time. ” (The Editorial Board). When this cause happen the NSA had advocated their program so, it could prevent future leaks for happening.

In this day and age, change is vital. In order to see change, we must stand up for what we believe in. By speaking out against laws we believe to be unjust, we can make a difference. As long as we act with peace and respect, it is possible to change the law if your reasoning is sensible. Due to this, I wholeheartedly believe that peaceful resistance to laws has an overall positive impact on a free society. I came to this realization during my attendance at a local “Speak Up, Speak Out” rally in which our main goal was to protest against racism, police brutality, and to essentially speak up for those being oppressed by our society. Due to the resurgence of racial inequalities in America, police brutality has been a major issue this year in politics.

All across history, humanity has participated in the act of civil disobedience as a means to express to a higher power their disagreement with a series of actions or legislation. Civil disobedience is the act of deliberately disobeying one or more laws in order to advocate for change (Lefkowitz 204). Approaching civil disobedience in a systematic manner is necessary, however, to ensure people’s safety and to be as civilly responsible as possible. The first step is to be patient and see of the issue will take care of itself. Upon determination that the issue is one that is progressing rather than digressing, the second step is to begin negotiation. Should negotiation not be successful, demonstrations may become part of the third step. Finally,

The actions of Edward Snowden have been both criticized and praised by the masses. While Snowden released confidential information, he also brought attention to the rights we have as citizens. Beatrice Edwards, Executive Director at the Government Accountability

But I had no idea which side I should stand on. Because I was have been told I should be an honest man from the time I was a kid, so I think Snowden should tell the public the truth about what he know. Snowden is absolutely obeys the law if he unveils government misdeed in public, in this case, he should be exempt from punishment by the American government. But my concern is whether these leaked information gives terrorists and other enemy countries advantage because they get to know how to avoid detection by the American government. In this case, Snowden’s actions harms the national security. However, NSA eavesdrop peoples phone calls and Internet can be justifiable under certain circumstances. For example, the surveillance program can detect the terrorists, in consequence prevent people from terrorism attack. In order to figure out who is wrong and who is right, I should do more research about what they did. Next, I attempt to find valuable information about American government’s intelligence gathering policies to scrutinize whether the policies are useful or dysfunctional that should be reformed. I found a book named “Spying In America in the Post 9/11 World: Domestic Threat and the Need for Change”. The author Ronald Marks is a former senior CIA official and his expertise lies in Cyber security and Homeland Security intelligence. He is very familiar with U.S. government policy

"Civil disobedience is not only the natural right of a people, especially when they have no effective voice in their own Government, but that it is also a substitute for violence or armed rebellion"(Gandhi). The idea of peaceful protest is one essential to creating change in the world. A government’s purpose is to serve the people by listening to their needs and it is when the voice of the people is ignored that change becomes necessary. But rather than take up arms against the government, peaceful resistance allows for change without violence. It is therefore not only beneficial in a democratic society but also essential to make sure the voice of the people is recognized.

I strongly believe that peaceful resistance to laws does not only positively affect a free society but it also makes sure that civil and human rights are upheld in a free society as well. One could even make the argument that our own great nation was built on the very act of civil disobedience to unjust laws. In the famous essay “Civil Disobedience” Henry David Thoreau he states that people's first obligation is to what is moral and right not what is simply dictated by the law. This then means that when a government is unjust, people are in the right to refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from the government in general. This theory of civil disobedience can be applied to a lot of famous fights for liberty and rights throughout

There can be a lot to discuss when the topic of peacefully breaking the law comes upon us, and whether it disturbs the society or not. Laws are created to keep the society in order while making sure there is obedience within. Peaceful resistance can bring danger at that exact moment, or in the future. Once one person gets brave enough to resist it could give many others the idea and make them want to join in. Laws are not created so we can decide when it is okay to disobey and when it is appropriate to obey. Peaceful resistance to laws in a free society has an overall negative impact because danger can occur, others might join in on the resistance, and laws are created to obey them at all times.