In the United States, civil disobedience is part of the collective imagination, as much as the myth of the frontier. One of the fathers of this movement was Henry David Thoreau, author of the illuminating essay Disobbedienza civile, published in 1849, in which the author explains that in his view citizens need not obey their government if they disagree with its policies. "All men recognise the right to refuse obedience and to resist the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and intolerable." Yet today in the United States this possibility of expressing dissent and disobedience is increasingly under threat. The number of states passing laws that criminalise protests against so-called critical infrastructure, such as oil and gas pipelines, is in fact growing.

Laws against freedom of expression

Since 2017, similar laws — deemed unconstitutional by civil liberties advocates, who argue they violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution — have been passed in at least eighteen states. These laws, adopted for example by Oklahoma, Texas and South Dakota, provide for increased penalties for activists who protest or even plan protests against oil pipelines, gas pipelines and other critical infrastructure. What were previously considered minor infractions are now treated as actual criminal offences.

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Delegitimising civil disobedience

The aim of these laws, according to the human rights organisation Aclu and the Center for constitutional rights, would be above all to discourage non-violent civil disobedience by equating it with violent crimes, but also to cut material support from organisations by imposing hefty fines on those that back activists. The rapid expansion of anti-activist laws, despite their apparent unconstitutionality, can be explained by the considerable political and economic power that oil and gas companies wield in many parts of the United States.

Protesters as terrorists

Aware of the power wielded by a critical mass of people, conservative legislators seek to prevent it from forming at the outset by deterring it through criminal penalties. "Protesters are being disaggregated, judged as terrorists and economic saboteurs, when in reality they are making their voices heard because pipelines are dangerous for their communities and the environment," Vera Eidelman, a lawyer at the American civil liberties union, an NGO established to defend civil rights and individual liberties in the United States, told the Guardian. "Even if people haven't been directly charged, the existence of these laws can chill them and make them more afraid to speak out."

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No country for protesters

Oklahoma was the first state to adopt the new legislation protecting oil and gas pipelines in 2017, followed by Louisiana. In 2019, the tightening of criminal and civil sanctions against protesters was also approved in Tennessee, Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas, while it is under consideration in Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky. Industry representatives, for their part, argue that these severe sanctions are necessary to guarantee the safety of critical infrastructure. "The goal of the new legislation is to protect the safety of the people, the environment and the infrastructure of Louisiana," declared the president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent oil and gas association.

What activists risk

Protesting against the construction of infrastructure that is dangerous to the health of citizens and the ecosystem will become increasingly risky. In Texas, for example, the law set to come into force in September will punish with a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of $10,000 anyone who "impairs or interrupts" the construction of a gas or oil pipeline. If an activist is accused of having "intent to damage or destroy" an operational facility, they risk up to ten years in prison — a penalty comparable to that for attempted murder. Finally, organisations deemed to have been involved in such an action risk a fine of up to $500,000.

Cindy Spoon's resistance

In Louisiana, sixteen activists are currently awaiting trial and face up to five years in prison for peacefully and non-violently protesting on public land. Among them is Cindy Spoon, who, in her canoe, was protesting in navigable public waters against the construction of a large oil pipeline that is set to carry crude oil through the vast wetlands of the Atchafalaya River basin, one of the largest swamp areas in the United States and home to extraordinary biodiversity. The young woman is the first activist to be charged in Louisiana, just one week after the law came into force, but she does not appear to have any intention of backing down. "Staying with my hands folded is far worse than the risk that concerns me personally." Civil disobedience is not yet extinguished.