Civil liberties are specific personal rights or liberties that our federal, state, and local governments may not deny or violate.
- Free speech is an example of a civil liberty. You can find it listed in the First Amendment within The Bill of Rights. With that liberty, you may speak or not speak as you wish. Under the U.S. Constitution and its amendments, the federal, state, and local governments may not deny or deprive anyone of that right under most circumstances.
Why it matters: The history of political conflicts in the U.S. has often involved attempts to define and redefine liberties, to gain liberties, and to deny them to various kinds of people.
Civil liberties, though regarded by many as natural rights, are legally secured (since natural rights do not enforce or protect themselves) through our federal, state, and local constitutions and laws. As such, they can be changed from time to time through constitutional amendments and the adoption of new laws.
The prohibitions associated with our civil liberties are not always absolute. For example, the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments include language that allows the government to deprive people of their life, liberty, or property when they have been convicted of crimes in proceedings in which they have fully been accorded the due process of law.
The prohibitions contained in the Constitution and its amendments against violating our liberties apply only to the federal, state, and local governments.* Citizens, businesses, and non-governmental organizations are limited by various laws written alongside the Constitution. These are often the subject of controversy and can change from time to time. Thus, ultimately, it is up to each of us to respect and uphold the liberties of all of our fellow citizens. Thus, for example, the First Amendment prohibition against government infringement of our liberty to speak (or not) is insufficient without our personal commitment to allow others to speak.
*There is one exception: the Thirteenth Amendment prohibits us from enslaving others or forcing them into involuntary servitude. Our federal, state, and local governments are similarly restricted, except when used as punishment for those duly convicted of crimes.
See also: “Rights,” “civil rights,” and “negative and positive rights.”
Sources:
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rights/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights
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