8 Celebrities Arrested While Crusading for a Cause, 2 With Close Calls

March 17, 2012— -- intro: When we think of celebrities in handcuffs, typically it's the Lindsay Lohans, the Sean Penns, the Charlie Sheens, those who are boozin' and cruisin', that come to mind.

But George Clooney?

Clooney was arrested Friday for civil disobedience after taking part in a protest outside of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C. -- his father, Nick Clooney, and two U.S. congressmen were by his side. The Oscar-winning actor was there to call attention to the growing "humanitarian crisis" in the war-torn country.

"We need humanitarian aid to be allowed in to the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Immediately," Clooney told the gathered crowd.

But this Hollywood darling isn't the first celebrity to have a run-in with law enforcement while fighting for a cause he believes in.

quicklist: 1category: title: George Clooneyurl: media:15939086text: George Clooney, an advocate of United to End Genocide, has made several trips to Darfur and made a documentary on the region with his father, a journalist.

Prior to his arrest on Friday, Clooney had been in Washington, D.C., to draw attention to the plight of Sudan. The actor testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and held private meetings with the Secretary of State and President Obama about the African nation's dire humanitarian situation and the Obama administration's policy earlier this week.

On Friday, Clooney was part of a group that was protesting against the Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, an alleged war-criminal, asking him to stop the violence and allow humanitarian aid into the country.

Clooney was released from jail a few hours after his arrest when he "posted and forfeited" $100 bond, and will not face a court date.

ABC News' Dana Hughes contributed to this report.

quicklist: 2category: title: Daryl Hannahurl: media:15940489text: Daryl Hannah, the star of "Splash" and "Blade Runner," has been arrested on multiple occasions for protesting for environmental causes.

In 2006 the actress stood with over 350 protesters at the South Central Farm in Los Angeles, the largest urban community garden in the country, when it was planned to be bulldozed. Its landowner, Ralph Horowitz, wanted to replace it with a warehouse.

During the protest, Hannah chaining herself to a walnut tree at the garden for three weeks before police, dressed in riot gear, forcibly removed her and about 40 others, the Associated Press reported.

Hannah was arrested again in 2009, when she and 31 other people protested against mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia. She was later released after being charged with impeding traffic and obstructing an officer after the protestors blocked a road near a coal processing plant.

In August 2011, Hannah was one of nearly 100 people who were arrested for conducting a sit-in outside of the White House to protest the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the Associated Press reported that Hannah sat by the White House sidewalk and refused to move under orders from U.S. Park Police.

quicklist: 3category: title: Martin Sheen url: media:15940708text:Martin Sheen, the actor known for his portrayal as President Bartlet on the TV series, "The West Wing" and Captain Willard in the film, "Apocalypse Now," is also famous for being the most arrested celebrity in Hollywood.

Sheen, 71, has been arrested more than 60 times for protesting everything from human rights abuse to environmental issues. His first arrest happened in 1986, when police picked him up for civil disobedience for protesting President Ronald Reagan's "star wars" initiative -- a plan to use ground-to-space systems to launch nuclear missiles.

One of his most recent arrests was in 2007. Sheen was arrested for trespassing on a Nevada nuclear test site during an anti-nuclear protest, the Associated Press reported.

quicklist: 4category: title: Susan Sarandon url: media:15940729text:Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon, a long-time political activist, has been arrested on charges of civil disobedience in the past.

The "Jeff Who Lives At Home" star has talked numerous times about being arrested in high school for protesting the Vietnam War.

In 1999, the actress was among 219 people arrested amidst protests over the death of African immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed by police at his home in the Bronx.

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Most recently, the 65-year-old actress joined the Occupy Wall Street protesters last September in New York City, but was not arrested.

quicklist: 5category: title: Lucy Lawlessurl: media:15802642text:Lucy Lawless lived up to her name when she was arrested on Feb. 27, 2012 with five Greenpeace activists in New Zealand.

Police arrested the actress and the other protesters after they spent four days atop of an oil-drilling tower on the Noble Discoverer in Port Taranaki, New Zealand, the Associated Press reported. The Shell-chartered ship was supposed to be used to look for exploratory oil wells in the Arctic.

A native New Zealander, Lawless, 43, is best known for her title role in the TV series, "Xena: Warrior Princess," and recently starred in the Starz series "Spartacus."

All were charged with burglary and are due to appear in court to on March 20, the Australian newspaper the Daily Telegraph reported.

quicklist: 6category: title: Danny Gloverurl: media:text:Danny Glover was arrested, along with 11 other people, after participating in a massive protest outside of the U.S. headquarters of Sodexo, Inc., in Gaithersburg, Md., on April 16, 2010.

Protesters had gathered to rail against the French food management giant for allegedly paying an unlivable wage and offering poor benefits, AFP reported.

All 12, including Glover, were released after the protest ended.

quicklist: 7category: title: Woody Harrelsonurl: media:15558319text:Actor Woody Harrelson, a longtime environmental activist, was arrested in 1996 after he and nine other demonstrators scaled the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to demand that the government protect a 60,000-acre redwood grove, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The group hung banners avoid the roadway, creating a massive traffic jam. All were charged with trespassing, failure to obey a peace officer and public nuisance, according to the Times.

Harrelson, 50, launched his career on the hit TV sitcom, "Cheers," and most recently stars in the upcoming film, "The Hunger Games."

quicklist: 8category: title: James Cromwell url: media:15940740text:James Cromwell, whose career took off after he starred in "Babe," a movie about a pig, was arrested in 2001 during an animal rights protest at a Wendy's in Virginia.

The Associated Press reported that Cromwell, now 72, was released five hours later.

quicklist: 9category: title: Hayden Panettiere's Close Callurl: media:15940672text:"Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere, 22, garnered worldwide attention when she was part of a group of protesters from the United States and Australia who paddled out on surfboards on Oct. 30, 2007, to a cove near Taiji in southwestern Japan.

The group was attempting to disrupt a Japanese fishermens' annual ritual of slaughtering whales and dolphins.

At the time, the actress, then 18, told E! News that the demonstrators clashed with the fishermen, who drove the group back to shore. Panettiere then claimed the incident had earned her a warrant for her arrest.

"I learned today that I have an arrest warrant out for me in Japan because of what I did for Save the Whales," Panettiere told E! News.

In November 2007, Takumi Fukuda, a spokesperson for the Fisheries Attaché at the Embassy of Japan released a statement to "Access Hollywood" in response to the arrest warrant claim, saying, "Generations of people in Taiji have relied on fisheries for their livelihoods, and their catches are carried out in a sustainable manner."

Adding that "While respecting Ms. Panettierre's personal feelings towards dolphins, I hope that your viewers will be reassured by the fact that Japan is carefully managing marine-living resources for the future."

quicklist: 10category: title: Jessica Alba's Close Callurl: media:15940433text:Oklahoma City police launched an investigation in June 2009 after photos surfaced of Jessica Alba allegedly defacing public property with large posters of great white sharks.

The posters were meant to raise awareness about the animals' dwindling populations. At the time, Alba was in the city to shoot her film, "The Killer Inside Me."

Police claimed that the posters were secured with heavy glue on the city's bridge, an electrical box, a traffic control box and an United Way billboard, ABC affiliate KOCO reported. Alba's named was redacted from the report because she was never arrested or charged.

Alba, 30, apologized shortly afterwards, releasing a statement through her publicist that said, "I got involved in something I should have had no part of. I realize that I should have used better judgment, and I regret not thinking things through before I made a spontaneous and ill-advised decision to let myself get involved with the people behind this campaign. I sincerely apologize to the citizens of Oklahoma City and to the United Way for my involvement in this incident."

Police dropped the case and closed the investigation a week later because none of the property owners wanted to press charges.