What are Civil Liberties and Rights?

1. What are Civil Liberties and Rights?

2. I. What are Civil Liberties? Introduction: The authors of the Declaration of Independence believed liberty to be an inherent right of all human beings and sought to create a government to protect this right. The Bill of Rights was thus designed to guarantee the inalienable rights of all humans. Governments are created to provide peace and protect individual rights; society is willing to concede power to a government in order to have these protections. However, the struggle continues between how much power to give to this government before it infringes on one's rights. The classic dilemma of people in a democratic society is how to balance the authority they need with the personal liberty they want.

3. I. Definitions: Civil Liberties • Wikipedia.org: “Civil liberties are protections from the power of governments. Examples include freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and trial by jury. These are usually created and protected by a constitution” • Burns et al: “Rights of all persons that cannot be denied by governmental power: freedom of conscience, religion, or expression; generally, the freedoms secured by the First Amendment” 3) Cummings and Wise: “Are the fundamental rights of a free society that are protected by the Bill of Rights”

4. II. The Bill of Rights 1st Amendment: the 1st amendment of our Constitution protects individuals from govt. laws that interfere with the freedom of religion and freedom of expression, as well as protection of written and symbolic speech, and freedom of the press, and freedom of association a. Amendment: “Congress shall make NO law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the govt. for a redress of grievances”

5. II. The Bill of Rights 2nd Amendment:ﾊ the 2nd amendment of course protects the "right of the people to keep and bear arms" and of course is the subject of a long standing debate that really centers on the concepts of ORDER versus FREEDOM and SAFETY and HATRED of GUNS versus freedom a. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”

6. B. The Bill of Rights 4th Amendment: covers freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. This is going to be one of the main topics of today's class a. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”

7. II. The Bill of Rights 5th Amendment: covers right NOT to incriminate one’s self, and also: right to Due Process, Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy among others a. “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”

8. II. The Bill of Rights 7th Amendment: In less than criminal matters, right of trial by jury is preserved a. “In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law”

9. B. The Bill of Rights 8th Amendment: No excessive bail or fines; and No cruel and unusual punishment shall be inflicted a. “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”

10. III. Civil Rights • The terms civil liberties and rights are often used interchangeably, although as you now know they are NOT the same thing and should NOT be used as if they were B. Let’s start with the textbook definition

11. III. Civil Rights Burns et al: “Rights of all persons, not just citizens, to equal protection of the laws; the constitutional right not to be discriminated against by GOVERNMENTS because of race, ethnic background, religion, or gender. Civil rights include the right not to be denied our lives, liberties, or property by government without due process of law. These civil rights are protected by the due process and equal protection clauses of the 5th and 14th Amendments and by civil rights laws of national and state governments”

12. III. Civil Rights A. Equality has been one of the central issues in our history B. In the Dec of Independence, Jefferson himself argued that all men are created equal--Did he himself believe that? Some say yes, some no C. One thing that isn’t debatable though is that, as a country, we sure haven’t always practiced that Jeffersonian idea of equality

13. III. Civil Rights D. Questions about civil liberties/rights 1. How do you define equality? 2. What, if anything, do you think government should do to achieve equality? 3. Should gender equality receive the same level of legal protection as racial equality? 4. Should persons captured on a foreign battlefield in the war on terrorism be entitled to constitutional protections?

14. Civil Liberties & Rights: In Conclusion • The next few weeks we will be exploring and discussing civil liberties and civil rights, largely through video, video response sheets & discussion. 2) You need to read UAG, ch. 3; online lectures 8-9; as well as complete online assignments 4-6 (#s 1.1, 1.3 [& short essay unrelated to Critical Thinking Text] in Critical Thinking text)