Webster defines civil liberty as a freedom from arbitrary governmental interference specifically by denial of governmental power, and in the United States especially as guaranteed by the bill of rights. Civil liberties are the basic rights, and freedoms that are due to every American citizen. More than often, civil liberties and civil rights are often used synonymously, but those terms are very distinct. A civil rights violation happens during designated situations where a person is discriminated against based on physical characteristics. However, civil liberties deal with basic rights and freedoms that are guaranteed within the Bill of Rights and U.S constitution, inferred over the years by courts, and legislatures. Although, there are many liberties outlined within the United States constitution freedom of speech will be expounded upon.
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.
1 McGahey 3 Megan McGahey Sherry Sharifian GOVT 2305 71430 20 September 2017 Civil Liberties vs.
Our Founding Founders established the federal government with three distinct branches, each with powers over the other in order to have a proper checks and balances to ensure fairness across the board. The U.S. Constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the three branches of government and is a critical document for the federal government. Important laws and documents such as The Bill of Rights, The US Civil Rights Act and The Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) are managed by our Constitution. Below we will discuss three subjects which set up a diverse broad range of viewpoints that are essential in our democracy.
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?
Since the creation of the constitution in 1789, people have found ways to disobey the laws written by our founding fathers. Most crimes have punishments that give fair consequences to the misconduct of the person, but some cases prove otherwise. The Bill of Rights were created to override all other law and provide a basis for moral wrongs and rights. Each amendment was written with a purpose to shape our country and give individual citizens the rights they believed were naturally theirs. One case, taken into the hands of the Supreme Court during World War I, caused an uproar of disagreement, to whether the case was decided unfairly. To this day, the case still remains arguable to whether this individual deserved the punishment that was given.
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,
There are many controversial decisions that were made in the last 100 years in American history. One of the most important decisions made in my opinion was the decision to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. In today's world, it would sound crazy to tell someone that they are not equal to the rest of society. Luckily, people today don't have to deal with laws that take away their individual rights and cause discrimination against them. African Americans were segregated in all aspects of society, such as going to segregated school districts and having segregated public places away from Caucasian people.Without the hundreds of boycotts, marches, protests and federal government enforcement to end racial inequality among people, we would not have the Civil Rights Act of 1964 today that allows African Americans the right to vote, citizenship, education equality, and the ability to share public places. Many people agreed on this becoming law, and others refused.
The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments of the United States constitution and they are basically a list of restrictions of government powers, not all government powers of course, but certain liberties that the authors deemed necessary to restrict the government from having full control over. These amendments cause a lot of controversy between the citizens that they are to protect because they are interpreted differently by different mindsets and are left a bit open to interpretation that causes confusion and dare I say chaos at times. Lastly, it seems that the Bill of Rights is the only section the mass majority of citizens talk about when they are arguing about the constitution or anything that has to deal with liberties.
Civil liberties and civil rights are very commonly used statements, which can be carelessly misused. Both statements are similar to some degree, but do hold different meanings. These statements may seem exactly the same, but by true definitions, the difference between both is unmistakable. Civil liberties are the protections against government actions. Civil rights, however, is positive actions of government should take to create equal conditions for all Americans.
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.
The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery and African American slaves gained their freedom during the Civil War; however, this did not mean they were fully integrated into American society. After the war, Southern Whites faced a crisis. The emancipation of slaves and the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship undermined their assertion that citizenship was for Whites only. The clear line between Whites who ruled and Blacks who were ruled became vulnerable. Since Whites slave owners could no longer treat the former slaves as non-citizens, they sought to strengthen this distinction by restoring slavery as best they could. Imposing disabilities on Black civil rights that limited their access to full citizenship was a goal to reach.
One of the first attempts to destroy inequality in modern times was the feminist movement, which did a lot of good for women, who had been second class citizens for a long time. The systems in place favored men considerably, classifying women as property of their husbands or fathers. Canada’s supreme court once ruled that women were not people in respect to rights, but were people in respect to taxes. This meant that a working woman could be taxed like a man, but had no vote. In today’s laws, if an employer hires a man instead a woman who was more qualified for the job, she could sue the employer for discrimination. This sounds great, but when you think about what this means for the future, you can see that the system still has a preference, but it is now on a different side. But women were primarily fighting for white women’s rights, not all women’s rights, so even in the fight for equality, there was discrimination, which leads to the next issue. Our society has attempted to put an end to racism. In previous times racism included black slavery, the KKK, and the holocaust, but today, most people in north america agree that racism is immoral. Recently, a huge problem in regards to racism has been the treatment of minorities by police officers and the legal system. “Black lives
During the next few years the Bill of Rights began to be accepted by the
The Civil Rights Movement, popular in the 1950s and 1960s, was a large group of people who fought for the equal rights of the African Americans. The people of the movement constantly protested the lack of equality in hopes to change the ideals of the white leaders. In efforts to suppress the protesting, whites passed several laws attempting to give blacks their full rights. Even then, white employers were reluctant to hire any man of color, which caused unemployment rates to skyrocket. Because of the high unemployment rates, the whites continued to view themselves as superior over every other race. After the blacks were legally “free,” they still faced a plethora of violent acts and segregation. This caused the Civil Rights Movement to