There was a time when American society broadly seemed to understand a simple fact about those who committed acts of civil disobedience to make a political point: that their high opinion of the merits of their chosen causes didn’t excuse them from paying the price for breaking the law. Burning an ROTC building still was burning an ROTC building. It wasn’t OK just because you had concerns about the Vietnam War.
Heck, even the lawbreakers generally understood that.
Not anymore.
Did you read about the environmental activist whose lawyer argued that the man’s conviction should be overturned because he was acting out of a desire to protect the environment from what he personally believed to be illegal actions?
Call it civil disobedience on the cheap.