Page 41 - CLT061520

EXPERT OPINIONS JUNE 15, 2020 ¦ 41

violent protest and property de- highest form of respect for the
struction, I cautioned my law law, an attempt to challenge the
students against taking such system by working within it to
actions if they ever planned to When we consider the demonstrate its unjustness, with-

be called to the bar. Just this looting of the Target in out resort to violence. In the case

weekend, two young Brooklyn Minneapolis, we might of laws that were unjust on their

lawyers without prior criminal ask ourselves whether we face, Gandhi and his followers
records were arrested after they would have sided with the would violate the very law they
threw a Molotov cocktail into opposed and then ask the tribu-
an empty police car. Although “mob” at the Boston Tea nal for the maximum penalty in
no one was injured, the incident Party or with those who order to highlight the injustice
highlights the potential danger decried the incident as an of both the law and the system
to human life that nearly any enforcing it, so that the jails
act of vandals.,

act of property destruction en- would overflow with otherwise
tails, and the fine line between innocent people, and those who
destroying property and endan- watched would be forced to reck-
gering lives. on with the wrongs wrought by a failing system.
However, even with respect to engaging in non- Today, in many instances, it is no longer a
violent acts of civil disobedience, my students question of de jure laws that are facially unjust,
and all prospective lawyers in Connecticut face but rather of discriminatory enforcement and
a dilemma if they are arrested and face criminal treatment. This has made choosing a method of
charges as a result. Under the Connecticut Rules exercising civil disobedience more challenging.
of Professional Conduct, lawyers commit “profes- Gandhi defied the British salt tax by marching to
sional misconduct” if they, among other things, the sea to make salt unlawfully. Rosa Parks simply
“[c]ommit a criminal act that reflects adversely on sat at the front of the bus. Today, we may have to
the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as block highways.
a lawyer in other respects” or “[e]ngage in conduct Confronted with the deaths of so many black
that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.” and brown people at the hands of the police, we
RPC 8.4(2) and (4). Further, under Section 2-40, must exhort our fellow citizens, our brethren in
any lawyer “convicted of a serious crime” has a the Bar, and the Connecticut Bar Examining
duty to notify disciplinary counsel. Committee to acknowledge acts of civil disobedi-
For prospective members of the bar, the scope ence as a legitimate means of protest. Specifically,
of inquiry is far broader, as perhaps it should be. the Bar Examining Committee should not treat
Currently, applicants must submit “arrest report[s] acts of civil disobedience as disqualifying future
and all other documents” relating to any criminal lawyers. But, even if there is no guarantee that acts
convictions or pending criminal charges against of civil disobedience will be respected, we as citi-
the applicant. In short, I was unable to reassure zens, lawyers and law students should recognize
my students that they could in good conscience that some risks are worth taking.
perform acts of civil disobedience without some ¦

risk to their bar applications, even if it meant only Sheila N. Hayre is the Waring & Carmen
delay and then subsequent approval. Partridge Faculty Fellow Visiting Associate Pro-
As theorized by Thoreau, and practiced by Gan- fessor of Law at Quinnipiac University School
dhi and King, civil disobedience demonstrates the of Law.

CONNECTICUT
Law Tribune