Civil Liberties In The United States

Civil liberties is the individual rights and freedoms that government is obliged to protect, normally by not interfering in the exercise of these rights and freedoms. However, over the years the rights for the people have either have become open and free or it has become restrictive. The bill of rights in terms of scope in civil liberties protection has changed by three paths such three paths are increased in authority of federal government, the Supreme court shifted its interpretation of constitutional provisions in areas like freedom of speech, free religious practice, expansion and contraction of protections, and finally additional liberties to be protected beyond those specifically listed in the constitution.

The balance between the duty of the government, both on a state and federal scale, and the citizens’ view of freedoms has been a continuous struggle throughout the readings. Although many members of America’s youth believe that their participation in politics is aimless, public opinion and voting are very important aspects of shaping the government. Without certain civil rights being granted by the government, these important rights of expression and suffrage would not exist.

Answer: Discrimination, right before the Revolutionary War, was raised to the highest tide in America’s societies. Many efforts were tried to reduce or alleviate the tense situation but ended up with failure, and this is the origin of two most important concepts in America which are Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Even though Civil Rights and Civil Liberties are both under the Constitution, they are different. Civil Rights are duties of government to ensure the equal treatment for everyone not regarding to their race, gender, age, or religious… while Civil Liberties are people’s freedoms to protect themselves from governmental action like unreasonable searches and seizures.

1. 2 Define Civil Liberties; then define Civil Rights. How are they similar? How do they differ? Which civil sequence has more influence on your life as you know it to be now? Why do you believe this to be so?

When our founding fathers sat down to illustrate and create the foundation of the United States, they had many goals and ideals they set out to uphold. One of those is equality. It states clearly in our constitution that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” It can sometimes be a blurry line to if these ideals are still upheld in a rapidly changing and disunified country. This is where our civil sequences: Liberties and Rights, keep our country intact. 1 Both Civil Liberties and Rights are granted and defined in the Constitution. We must continue enforcing our civil sequences to maintain order for ourselves, our states,

One might ask the importance of civil liberties after so many years. The answer is that we are all touched by these liberties every day. Even though civil liberties were embedded into the Bill of Rights in the late 1800’s, we today, as Americans, still have the right to be protected against any abusive power used by the government (Bianco & Canon, 2015, p. 106). Although Americans are protected fully today, it took over a century for all civil liberties to be implemented. With several civil liberties in place, which is most important? Which liberty protects us as Americans, most significantly? I believe all of our civil liberties are equally as beneficial and lead to the safety of every citizen in the United

The Amendments of the Past If we learn from the mistakes of the past have we really rectified them? Throughout the history of America it can be seen that Civil Liberty threatened to tear us apart. But do those affairs still live clandestine and invisible amidst us. The civil liberty issues of the past have been resolved through courageous voicing of opinions, persuasive usage of privileged rights, and the oxymoron of unifying wars. The topic of Civil Liberties is usually associated with a negative response but its connotation is relatively positive, defined as freedom from arbitrary government interference.

Civil liberties are what you would consider your basic rights, and also freedom that should be guaranteed. For example, what is stated in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.

A man that goes by the name of “Paul Ryan” once stated, “We believe, as our founders did, that ‘the pursuit of happiness’ depends upon individual liberty; and individual liberty requires limited government’”. In fact, at the Constitutional Convention, in order to protect against giving the central government too much power, the delegates added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution in which these individual liberties are as stated in it . The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution that guarantees legal and civil rights of the citizens. The Founders had high hopes of these individual liberties that were promised to the people. However, the government, which was supposed to have a limited power or say in this, has been attempting to compromise these liberties with sugar coated words such as they are doing this in the name of security or general welfare for the people by taking advantage of our desire for security.

Is privacy implied in any of our Constitutional amendments? Where? First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment

Often our nation sees as a symbol of freedom to the world; however, since the events of 9/11 the U.S congress signed into law the U.S Patriot Act. This legislation extends the power of the government by strengthening its oversight authority over the nation, claiming war on terrorism and protection of national security against any potential threats. As an American citizen, I agree with some of the terms and measures adopted under the Patriot Act in which the government needs to intercept, obstruct, and monitor terrorism actions keeping us safe from potential attacks. However, the acts fails to secure American liberties, rather it facilitates and encourages the government to be authoritative on the pretext of the idea of national security, assuming

Often our nation sees as a symbol of freedom to the world; however, since the events of 9/11 the U.S congress signed into law the U.S Patriot Act. This legislation extends the power of the government by strengthening its oversight authority over the nation, claiming protection of the national security against potential foreign threats. As an American citizen, I agree with some of the terms and measures adopted under the Patriot Act in which the government needs to intercept, obstruct, and monitor terrorism actions keeping us safe from potential attacks without violating any of our civil rights. However, the act fails to secure American liberties, facilitating and encourages the government to become authoritarian with the pretext idea of national security purpose, exposing millions of Americans lives to serious and potential abuses of corruptions, fraud and discrimination by taking away our freedoms and liberty rights guarantee by the U.S Constitution, assuming that giving politicians authoritarian powers will make America a safer place to live. On the Other hand as a Law abiding citizen I’m not willing to sacrifice and been taking away my constitutional rights in exchange for national security purpose, because if we continue like that, we would be further away from an ideal democracy society, losing confidence and support to our government system that eliminates the American ideal of check and balance power for their own ends.

The legal age limit to have full legal liberties in America should be eighteen and not twenty one. If one is able to serve their country in the military and fight in a foreign land, legally marry another adult individual, and smoke cigarettes, then they should also be able to legally consume alcohol, own a hand gun, rent a car, and gamble at the age of eighteen. These legal liberties are granted according to age and not one’s intellectual capacity or maturity to make a sound decision. If one has sound judgment and realizes that they will be held legally accountable for their actions then the age should not restrict privileges. Therefore, if one is enlisted to defend their country

In October of 2008, Susan N. Harris was elected President of the American Civil Liberties Union, she also served for twenty consecutive years on the ACLU National Board of Directors, the General Counsel for ten years, and on the Executive Committee for sixteen years(American Civil Liberties Union, n.d.).

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, once said “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” In America’s society today, some are willing to sacrifice their civil liberties in order to gain protection and security over some potential threat. Especially after the events of September 11th and several attempted bombings in U.S. cities. This sacrifice of individual freedoms such as the freedom of speech, expression, the right to information, to new technologies, and so forth, for additional protection is more of a loss than a gain. Citizens of the United States deserve equal liberty and safety overall, as someone should not have to give up