Chapter 14
The Dilemmas of
Dissent and Political
Response
14-1
Change and resistance to change are part
of every system.
For change to occur, some amount of
“deviance” takes place and the “normal
way of things” is disturbed or threatened.
The rights guaranteed to individuals and
groups by the First Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States reflect a
commitment to allowing dissent.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
2
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Powerful social and political forces
everywhere have always been resistant to
change.
Dissent may be active or passive,
nonviolent or violent, individual or mass.
The major dilemma becomes how to
avoid social disorder.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
3
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
1
Dissent: Catalyst of Progress
Change versus Order
It is difficult to say that any specific historical time
was in a “state of order.”
Our present society is complex, technologically
communicative, and composed of many groups of
people.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
4
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Why Seek Change?
Our contemporary culture places great
emphasis on achievement, but it also
emphasizes dissatisfaction with one’s
personal state.
Achievement and its companion value
promote the rights to protest and to have
grievances addressed.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
5
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
The Right to Dissent
The First Amendment protects the freedoms
of speech, press, the right of the people to
assemble, and the right to petition the
government for a redress, individuals and
groups.
This Amendment is a principle—a symbolic
commitment.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
6
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
2
First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
7
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Keeping Dissent Peaceful
The survival of our democratic system is
dependent on accommodating dissent,
solving disagreements, peacefully containing
social conflicts, righting wrongs, and
modifying the structure of the system as
conditions change.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
8
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Although these changes are necessary to
keep the government alive, the
organization of government itself is
fundamentally resistant to change.
This resistance by the government to
peaceful change leads to violence.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
9
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
3
Acceptable Dissent
The men who wrote the Constitution did not
define “acceptable dissent tactics” in the First
Amendment.
The meaning of what is considered
acceptable strategies of dissent constantly
changes.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
10
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
A Legalistic Position
A model definition of acceptable dissent
The First Amendment protects dissent if it is belief
and not act.
If it is speech and does not create a clear and
present danger of injury to others.
If it is against a specific law or enforcement thereof
by silent and reproachful presence.
In a place where the dissenter has every right to be.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
11
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Supportive Legalistic Views
The U.S. Constitution does not give us the
right to disobey valid laws.
The U.S. Constitution does not give anyone
the privilege to violate a law even if the
protest demonstration is designed to test the
law’s constitutionality.
Every time a court order is disobeyed, and
each time an injunction is violated, the
effectiveness of our judicial system is eroded.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
12
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
4
The Legalistic Position: A Summary
Protesters are justified in disobeying the
commands of civil authorities who try to
forbid actions that exercise privileges
guaranteed by the Constitution.
Those who hold this view, however, insist
that no one has the right to disobey valid
laws.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
13
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Contrasting Positions
Traditional methods of dissent are
insufficient or have fallen on deaf ears.
Dissent is often focused on organizational
policies or administrative decisions and not
laws.
The dissent issue is often not negotiable to
those in the power structure.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
14
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
A Classic Argument
Some guidelines for deciding when to
disobey the law through protest activity:
Civil disobedience—the deliberate violation of
the law for a vital social purpose.
Government and laws are instruments to life,
liberty, and happiness, not ends in themselves.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
15
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
5
Civil disobedience can involve violating laws that
are not in themselves wrong in order to protest an
important issue.
If a specific act of civil disobedience is morally
justifiable, then jailing those who perform the act is
immoral and should be opposed.
The tactics used in civil disobedience should be as
nonviolent as possible.
The degree of disorder in civil disobedience should
be measured, not against some misleading degree of
peace or order associated with the status quo, but
against the real disorder or violence produced by the
abuse that led to the protest.
The state and the citizen have opposed interests.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
16
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
A great many Americans occupy the
middle of the political spectrum in that
they consider themselves to be neither
liberals nor conservatives.
Communists feel that even the welfare
capitalism found in the United States is
evil and must be eliminated.
Anarchists argue that all government is
evil.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
17
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Libertarians criticize both liberals and
conservatives as abusing the power of the
government and infringing on individual
liberties.
Libertarians are very concerned with
protecting individual freedoms.
Due to the nature of democracy in the
United States, many compromises are
made in order for the political system to
function.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
18
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
6
Political Dissent
Political dissent is concerned primarily with
affecting change in political policy.
Social Dissent
Social dissent is concerned primarily with
gaining social equality.
Social dissent in the United States was
pioneered by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
19
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Economic Dissent
Economic dissent is concerned primarily with
affecting change in the economy and meeting
material needs.
Religious Dissent
Religious dissent is concerned primarily with
affecting change in the definition of religious
freedoms or specific religious practices that
may violate existing law.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
20
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Environmental Dissent
Environmental dissent is concerned primarily
with affecting change in the surroundings or
settings in which we live.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
21
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
7
Strategies of Dissent and Response
Legalists and advocates of dissent differ in
many critical respects, but they all recognize
the need for “justice,” “order,” and “change.”
They also agree that dissent must be analyzed
in relation to crisis in American institutions.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
22
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Strategies of Dissent
Strategies of dissent differ with regard to
three concerns:
The nature of the desired changes
The means of achieving change
Attitudes toward the people who defend the
system
Three strategies can be distinguished:
The strategy of order
The strategy of disorder
The strategy of violence
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
23
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Strategies of Response
The response of law
The response of order
The response of violence
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
24
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
8
Violent Action
Some dissident groups seem committed to
violence from the outset, engaging in
guerrilla warfare and terrorists activities.
This type of warfare exists throughout the
world.
Terrorism and guerrilla insurgency have
appeared in all segments of major U.S. cities.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
25
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
A key element in violent dissent is that the
dissenters seek to achieve their goals by
whatever means necessary.
Many individuals and criminal gangs engage
in activities that could also be classified as
terrorism.
The number of international terrorists
operating in America is increasing.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
26
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
The Role of Third Parties
Both dissidents and authorities plan tactics,
publicity, and media communications to win
over third parties.
This is especially important when power
differences are great between the conflicting
parties, and the weaker party can obtain a
compromise or achieve its goals only if
strong third parties become its allies.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
27
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
9
The Role of the Media
All parties try to influence the way conflict
and the parties to it are portrayed in
newspapers and magazine articles and on
radio and television.
When political authorities are pressed by
dissent, freedom of the press comes under
increasing fire.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
28
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
The Police
The police frequently find themselves acting
as substitutes for necessary political and
social reform.
Labor history demonstrates that the police
served as the main bulwark against the labor
movement.
Picket lines were violently dispersed;
meetings were disrupted; organizers were
shot, beaten, and jailed.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
29
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Responses of Violence
In some of our larger cities, tenant groups,
students, war protesters, gays, browns, and
blacks have drawn similar responses from the
police.
1968 National Democratic convention in
Chicago
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
30
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
10
Police View of Dissent
Many police officers view protest as
unequivocally illegitimate.
As a result, police may tend to be hostile to
most strategies of dissent and make the
reduction of dissent their goal.
The dangers of such a position are many.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
31
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
The Police and “Dirty Work”
The police frequently provide the most
visible direct response to dissent.
The police find themselves doing the “dirty
work” of larger political and social forces.
The acceptable approach today is an attempt
to balance the rights of protesters with the
need to maintain law and order.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
32
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Political Surveillance
The FBI, CIA, IRS, armed forces, Secret
Service, and other government agencies
sometimes equate dissent with subversion.
As a result, they maintain surveillance of the
activities of dissidents.
A major purpose of this surveillance is
political control of dissent.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
33
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
11
The Issue of Impartiality
It is difficult for the court to function as an
impartial arbiter of conflict when the
government itself is a party to the conflict.
The lower courts in the United States have
often set aside their independence and
become instruments of political need, without
regard for legality.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
34
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Planning and Preparation
If police agencies are prepared, they can
effectively use the wide range of options that
they have and seize the initiative in a
situation.
Cooperation and coordination among units in
a single police agency are critical.
A system of response must be organized as
one.
Police Community Relations and The Administration of Justice, 8th ed
Hunter and Barker
INTRODUCTION
35
© 2011, 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
12