Civil Disobedience Arrest

Kyle....

Hey ya'll --

About 4 years ago I participated in a peaceful, organized protest that involved a sit-in. I was arrested for something like "blocking passage" (I think in DC it might be called "Crowding, obstructing, or incommoding"). Basically, I was taken to a processing center with the other protestors, paid a nominal fee (something like $75-$100) and went on my merry way. All of this was planned--and I had gone to a session on peaceful civil disobedience beforehand / knew that the arrest would take place.

That said, I'm looking for advice discussing this on the character and fitness portions of applications. Are any of ya'll going to have to disclose something similar? And does anyone have any insight into how admissions committees view these types of things?

Also, is anyone going to be listing traffic incidents on their apps? (Ex., a ticket for a red light).

Many things to anyone that can respond --
Kyle

sx23

I think traffic incidents should be listed on their apps unless schools specifically said they shouldn't be. But I've read from multiple credible sources (e.g. PS and Spivey I think) these will not be a problem. I don't have any experience with this but I imagine your arrest, if not seen as a plus, would not be seen as a negative as well.

_oshun1_

TBH sounds like a + to me.
And some schools say don't include "minor traffic violations" whereas others say to include minor traffic violations. Others say don't include 10 year old minor traffic violations. So read carefully. If you know the county in which you got your traffic tickets, most court websites let you do a name search for $1 and you can pull up your traffic ticket history.

Chipster Study

Just on first blush, I might think that an arrest for those circumstances would not hurt you. Might even in a backwards type of way, secretly impress some folks. I would phrase it something like th is - "charged and paid $75 fine for incommoding during planned peaceful civil disobedience action coordinated by the Sierra Club to protest dumping of dioxin in the municipal drinking water."

I mean, who in the world could hold that against you? No, I argue it could make it seem that you are active and committed to participating in the social discourse of this country. And, that you are not going to law school for some vanity project because you couldn't figure out what to do with your life.

I would avoid the word arrest if possible. Don't use the incantations of the club you don't want to be in.

I think the incident could extra help you if you are listing public interest law as your target area of practice.

LSAT_Wrecker

Speaking as one who has successfully received one offer of admission with a C&F statement, here's what worked for me. Short sentences; just the facts - date, crime, outcome, fine; accept responsibility. Get in and get out. Let them focus on other things in your application.

Leah M B

Yes, you'll need to disclose this. If you haven't gone through the admissions course, there are a couple of great relevant sections to this:

https://7sage.com/admissions/lesson/character-fitness-addenda/
https://7sage.com/admissions/lesson/how-to-write-a-character-fitness-addendum/

Basically, keep it short. Explain the facts. If relevant, take responsibility and state what you learned from it. (I say "if relevant" because tbh, no one expects you to explain a speeding ticket, unless it's something like going 120mph. But the standard speeding ticket, red light ticket... that's a fact of life and even if you have to disclose it, no one's going to need a lengthy explanation.)

And as @oshun1 mentioned, the prompts are all different and you'll just have to read closely. Some will specifically say to include traffic violations, some will say only include misdemeanors and felonies, some will specifically say not to include minor traffic violations. Read carefully, and when in doubt, disclose. Also, I disagree with @"Chipster Study"'s advice to avoid saying "arrested". If you were indeed arrested, you should say that. I think considering the circumstances, it won't be held against you. But, you definitely don't want to look like you weren't being fully honest. No reason to hide anything in my opinion. They'll likely just see it as someone that's passionate about what they believe in, which would probably be a positive.