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Poli 101 Civil Liberties

Chapter 4 Civil Liberties
Course

American Politics (Poli 101)

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Academic year: 2022/2023
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University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

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Module 6: Civil Liberties

Part I. Defining Civil Liberties

I. The terms "civil rights" and "civil liberties" are often used interchangeably, but there are important differences.

a. Civil liberties are the basic freedom and liberties given at birth in the first ten amendments (Bill of Rights) and in the “due process” protection of the 14th amendment i. Protects citizens against improper government action ii. Limits the power of government iii. E., During Civil Rights movement blacks were segregated and this was a breach of their freedom and liberty b. Civil rights are about equality and are rooted in laws and the “equal protection” clause of the 14th amendment i. Protects citizens from illegal action of other citizens or other government agencies ii. Limits the power of majorities

  1. Majorities with power to discriminate against minority cannot iii. E., Blacks being barred from protesting during civil rights movement because they were a minority II. Conflicting Interests a. Basic Freedoms and Liberties are NOT absolute. They can be limited by the government when there are compelling interests. i. National Security vs. Civil Liberties (government vs. individual) b. The Judicial Branch (supreme Court) decides conflict continues i. They decide if government action was improper and unconstitutional

III. Balancing interests a. Individuals: the political freedoms that protect citizens from government abuse b. the government: security or public interests c. The court: drawing lines on the conflicts between liberty and security

Part II. The Origins of Civil Liberties

I. Background: Two Groups of founding fathers-Federalists vs. Ant- Federalists

a. Anti-Federalists thought the constitution gave the federal government too much power

i. Wanted to add some amendments to protect state power and protect liberties of individual states.

b. Federalists wanted the government to have stronger power and were ready to ratify the constitution without Bill of Rights

i. Federalists didn’t want to weaken the new government but they knew they need the Anti-federalist’s support and prioritized it so they agreed to add amendments to meet anti-federalists demands

II. To please Antifederalists a. Added The Bill of Rights to be the first ten amendments of the U. Constitution (1791) i. 10 protections of individual liberties b. Two Categories of these amendments i. Due Process of Law 1. Fair treatment through the judicial system, especially as a citizen’s entitlement 2. Protection from improper government action ii. Equal Protection under the Law

  1. Guaranteed that everyone’s liberties get equal protection under the law no matter their demographic. c. Bill of Rights is a series of what the government cannot do.

III. IMPORTANT CONCEPT TO UNDERSTAND BILL OF RIGHTS: Selective incorporation and the Fourteenth Amendment a. the passage of Civil War Amendments, which dramatically influenced how the Bill of Rights was applied to the states IV. Applying civil liberties to the states a. occurred on a case-by-case basis b. the Bill of Rights protections were not uniformly applied to the states c. Specific protections from the Bill of Rights were incrementally applied to the states in a series of cases decided by the Supreme Court. V. Early on, the Bill of Rights was very limited a. 5 th amendment said that induvial property cannot be taken for public use without proper compensation i. Barron v. Baltimore (1833) where the city destroyed Barron’s harbor who depended on deep water to accommodate thousands and ruined his business. ii. He said the cities actions violated the 5th amendment and his case reached the supreme court iii. The court ruled the 5th amendment didn’t apply to states and the Bill of Rights only applies to the Federal Government

  1. Supreme court viewed the Bill of Rights as only referring to branches in the federal government only e., 1st amendment says, “Congress shall ....” iv. Created a concept of Dual Citizenship where each American is a citizen of the federal government and separately a citizen of one of the states.

b. The free exercise clause prohibits Congress from interfering with religious practice

i. Gray Area: How can we distinguish between religious beliefs and actions based on religious beliefs

  1. Religious belief and freedom of belief are absolute

  2. Freedom of religion= freedom of religious conduct

a. E., National Geographic TV show “Snake Salvation” where many Appellation churches worshipped with snake handling. Paster Coots died in Kentucky after a rattlesnake bite during worship (He refused medical treatment)

i. KY law said only professionals could handle rattlesnakes which Coop was not

b. Clear law to limit individual rights to handle poisonous snake to protect public safety and liberty

c. Since the paster died there was no legal dispute but this is a great example of the limits of the freedom to exercise clause

II. Freedom of Expression a. Freedom of Press b. Freedom of Speech c. Freedom to petition the government d. Freedom to Assembly e. Generally Protected Expression i. Political Speech & the clear and present danger test ii. Symbolic Speech: non-verbal political speech & Money as Speech iii. Hate speech? f. Less protected speech and publications i. Fighting words: forms of expression that "by their very utterance" can incite violence ii. libel and slander iii. commercial speech iv. obscenity & the Miller test

Part IV. The Right to Bear Arms

I. the minor role played by the Supreme court II. Congress, state, and local governments had been granted significant autonomy to define their own gun ownership and gun-carrying rights.

III. exception: the Brady Bill requiring a background check and waiting period before purchasing a handgun IV. the recent cases

Part V. Law, Order, and the Rights of Criminal Defendants

I. The Rights of Due Process a. provide criminal defendants with a number of civil liberties restricting what the government b. based on the ideas of fairness and justice c. = 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments

d. The Fourth Amendment i. unreasonable searches and seizures ii. The Exclusionary Rule: If evidence has been collected illegally, it is subject to the exclusionary rule, which prohibits it from being admitted in court, no matter how compelling the evidence is. e. The Fifth Amendment i. Miranda Rights: protect suspects from making confessions unless they are aware that it is a free choice ii. Self Incrimination iii. Double Jeopardy: prosecutors are forbidden to try a suspect twice for the same particular crime. iv. Property Rights: "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation"

f. The Sixth Amendment i. the right to legal counsel and a jury trial ii. the public attorney

g. The Eighth Amendment i. cruel and unusual punishment ii. the Death Penalty

Part VI. Privacy Rights

I. never explicitly mentioned in the Constitution II. established in 1965 in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut, which found that there were implicit "zones of privacy" in the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth amendments. III. Abortion rights a. The right to privacy formed the basis of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973 IV. Gay rights a. typically conceived as a civil right rather than a civil liberty

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Poli 101 Civil Liberties

Course: American Politics (Poli 101)

13 Documents
Students shared 13 documents in this course

University: University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Was this document helpful?
Module 6: Civil Liberties
Part I. Defining Civil Liberties
I. The terms "civil rights" and "civil liberties" are often used interchangeably, but there are
important differences.
a. Civil liberties are the basic freedom and liberties given at birth in the first ten
amendments (Bill of Rights) and in the “due process” protection of the 14th
amendment
i. Protects citizens against improper government action
ii. Limits the power of government
iii. E.g., During Civil Rights movement blacks were segregated and this was a
breach of their freedom and liberty
b. Civil rights are about equality and are rooted in laws and the “equal protection”
clause of the 14th amendment
i. Protects citizens from illegal action of other citizens or other government
agencies
ii. Limits the power of majorities
1. Majorities with power to discriminate against minority cannot
iii. E.g., Blacks being barred from protesting during civil rights movement
because they were a minority
II. Conflicting Interests
a. Basic Freedoms and Liberties are NOT absolute. They can be limited by the
government when there are compelling interests.
i. National Security vs. Civil Liberties (government vs. individual)
b. The Judicial Branch (supreme Court) decides conflict continues
i. They decide if government action was improper and unconstitutional
III. Balancing interests
a. Individuals: the political freedoms that protect citizens from government abuse
b. the government: security or public interests
c. The court: drawing lines on the conflicts between liberty and security
Part II. The Origins of Civil Liberties
I. Background : Two Groups of founding fathers-Federalists vs. Ant- Federalists
a. Anti-Federalists thought the constitution gave the federal government too much
power
i. Wanted to add some amendments to protect state power and protect
liberties of individual states.

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