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40 ¦ JUNE 15, 2020 EXPERT OPINIONS

Violence & Civil Disobedience:
Where Do We Stand as Lawyers?

By Sheila N. Hayre

Thousands march in Washington, D.C., protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota

O at the hands of local police on June 6, 2020.
n June 1, the Connecticut Bar Association towns all across the country have been remark-
issued a statement titled “CBA Denounces ably—and increasingly—nonviolent. Much of the
All Acts of Hate.” A number of members public discourse uses terms such as “violence” and
objected that the statement did not go far enough “rioting” indiscriminately, but we, especially as
to condemn the violence and destruction caused lawyers, should reflect on the difference between
by “unlawful rioting.” One member went so far as “violence” to persons and destruction of property,
to complain about protesters blocking access to a line drawn by our laws. When we consider the
our highways. looting of the Target in Minneapolis, we might
On the same day, in a discussion that seemed to ask ourselves whether we would have sided with
take place a world away, my law students grappled the “mob” at the Boston Tea Party or with those
with questions about whether violent protest can who decried the incident as an act of vandals that
ever be justified and what the limits should be on by current estimates destroyed a million dollars’
their ability, as prospective members of the bar, to worth of tea? As we contemplate how to respond
protest and engage in civil disobedience. One of to these events, we must remind ourselves that
my students confessed to having lain down on the there is a difference between condoning and un-
road to block traffic. derstanding. In the words of Martin Luther King,
I offer no simple answers to these questions, Jr.: “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
but I wanted to share some thoughts. First, let’s be For lawyers and law students, the issues are
very clear: the spontaneous protests in cities and somewhat more circumscribed. With respect to

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