AIDS and Civil Disobedience

KIE: Members of groups such as ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) risk arrest and criminal charges to protest laws and policies they view as unjust to persons with AIDS. Spiers, a founding member of ACT UP, discusses the rationale behind the tactics of civil disobedience employed by AIDS activists. He argues that civil disobedience is justified by American political and legal traditions, and by the federal government's lack of response to the needs of its citizens. Spiers warns that while AIDS protests have been nonviolent and characterized by conscientious planning and execution, violence cannot be ruled out as a "political act born of desperation."