American law enforcement personnel take an oath to uphold the Constitution and are taught, or ought to be taught, about the implications and restrictions of their actions concerning the Constitution, including that a person has the right to resist an unconstitutional or illegal arrest.Here are some case laws that drive the point home:
The court is to protect against any encroachment of constitutionally secured rights.
-- Boyd vs US 116 US 616
Argued December 11, 14, 1886
Decided February 1, 1886
An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as though it had never been passed.
-- Norton vs Shelby County 118 US 425
Argued March 24-25, 1886
Decided May 10, 1886
No state shall convert a liberty to a privilege, license it, and charge a fee therefor.
-- Murdock vs Pennsylvania 319 US 105
Argued March 10, 11, 1943
Decided May 3, 1943
Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no legislation which would abrogate them.
-- Miranda vs Arizona 384 US 436
Argued February 28 - March 1, 1966
Decided June 13, 1966.
If the state converts a right into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right with impunity.
-- Shuttleworth vs City of Birmingham, Alabama 317 US 262
Argued November 18, 1968
Decided March 10, 1969
How did the United States of America get to the place we find ourselves in today?
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