Civil Disobedience

Civil disobedience, however, goes beyond demonstrating to deliberate breaking of the law believed to be unjust. Those who engage in civil disobedience are attempting to secure civil liberties or rights they believe are being wrongfully denied. A purposeful act that breaks a specific law deemed unjust is direct civil disobedience. Civil disobedience places burdens on police forces, who must divert personnel, time, and other resources to manage and process groups of people engaged in illegal activity. Civil disobedience is the public breaking of a law to dramatize its alleged injustice. Most acts of civil disobedience violate state laws, which may be more lenient than federal laws. Many groups have used civil disobedience in American history as a means of seeking change in public policy. Groups opposed to globalization have used civil disobedience to try to disrupt World Trade Organization meetings and to prevent other meetings that would spread "undesirable economics."