Legality

Legality

Definition: An act that is consistent with the law or state of being lawful in a given jurisdiction.

Example: When someone/group of individuals feel the need to protest something, they must take into the account of the legality of it. Recently, protestors occupied a piece of wildlife refuge for two weeks in order to fight against the federal governments management of public land. The individuals that protested support the idea of sovereign citizenship (believe that they are not subject to the and orders of the United States government). Throughout the standoff, authorities confronted the protestors and it resulted in one dead and five arrests. Among those that were arrested were protest leaders, Ammon and Ryan Bundy. While in court, Ammon Bundy requested that the rest of the protestors "stand down and leave the property". One of the last remaining protestors at the wildlife refuge was recorded saying, "Sometimes its right to break a law. This is the time to break a law."

From the text: When Haiman talks about Legal and Ethical Considerations, he explained an example about a group of protestors that ended up outside of Mayor Richard J. Daley's home. Haiman points out that an intrusion on the Mayor's home is also an intrusion on the other residents within that neighborhood. Although that some protestors would argue that they have free speech, the neighborhood had imposed "statatory bans on residential picketing" (Haiman 15). Although the protestors thought that what they were doing was legal, first they must have checked the legality of their actions before actually beginning their protests outside of the Mayor's home.

Works Cited: Simon, Nora. Oregon Standoff: "A Timeline of How the Confrontation Unfolded". Oregonlive.com. The Oregonian/The Oregon Live. 27 January 2016. Web. 4 Feb 2016.