Failing to follow Gandhi and King

DEPUTY Richard Boyd Barrett was quoted in your newspaper (Dec 23) — “It is entirely justified to disobey an unjust law. That is what Gandhi did, and what Martin Luther King did.”

He then goes on to state that refusing to pay property and water taxes falls under the King/Gandhi doctrine of civil disobedience. Mr Boyd Barrett is in error in applying the King/Gandhi doctrine to a property tax issue. According to the doctrine of King and Gandhi it is only justified to break the law by acts of civil disobedience when the following criteria has been met or will be met:

1. The law or the proposed law must be against fundamental human values. Such as — prohibiting people because of the colour of their skin from sitting in front of a bus.

2. Every avenue for a redress of the grievance must have been pursued and not only must the redress not be corrected but those in positions of authority must not have even allowed the redress to be heard in a proper public venue.

3. In breaking the law the consequences on the general public must be minimum. For example — in blocking a bridge it would be permissible to delay the public up to 30 minutes but it would not be permissible to prevent the citizen from the opportunity to complete a day’s work.

4. Those who break the law must be prepared to plead guilty in a court of law and must willingly accept the maximum punishment on the statute books and must not ask for a lesser fine or incarceration.

Vincent J Lavery

Coliemore Road

Dalkey,

Co Dublin