Civil liberties protections regulate government by defining spheres of activity (e.g., speech or religious worship) in which the government’s authority to interfere is limited. Although these constitutional guarantees to citizens seem clear in the abstract, they nevertheless produce vexing problems and controversies when applied to specific cases. And whereas all of the institutions of national government have responsibilities to guard the civil liberties of citizens, the United States Supreme Court exercises a great deal of the civil liberties agenda and decision making in American government.
Civil liberties are constitutional and other legal protections of individuals against government actions. Americans’ civil liberties are set down in the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. Disputes about civil liberties often end up in court. The Supreme Court of the United States is the final interpreter of the content and scope of our liberties; this ultimate power to interpret the Constitution accounts for the ferocious debate over presidential appointments to the Supreme Court.
Civil liberties are protections against government actions. For example, the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees citizens the right to practice whatever religion they please. Government, then, cannot interfere in an individual’s freedom of worship. Amendment I gives the individual “liberty” from the actions of the government.
Civil rights, in contrast, refer to positive actions of government should take to create equal conditions for all Americans. The term “civil rights” is often associated with the protection of minority groups, such as African Americans, Hispanics, and women. The government counterbalances the “majority rule” tendency in a democracy that often finds minorities outvoted.
Most Americans think of civil rights and liberties as principles that protect freedoms all the time. However, the truth is that rights listed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are usually competing rights. Most civil liberties and rights court cases involve the plaintiff’s right vs. another right that the defendant claims has been violated.
For example, in 1971, the New York Times published the “Pentagon Papers” that revealed some negative actions of the government during the Vietnam War. The government sued the newspaper, claiming that the reports endangered national security. The New York Times countered with the argument that the public had the right to know and that its freedom of the press should be upheld. So, the situation was national security v. freedom of the press. A tough call, but the Court chose to uphold the rights of the press.
The Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment
The overwhelming majority of court decisions that define American civil liberties are based on the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments added to the Constitution in 1791. Civil liberties protected in the Bill of Rights may be divided into two broad areas: freedoms and rights guaranteed in the First Amendment (religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition) and liberties and rights associated with crime and due process. Civil rights are also protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects violation of rights and liberties by the state governments.
Protection of civil liberties and civil rights is basic to American political values, but the process is far from easy. Protecting one person’s right may involve violating those of another. How far should the government go to take “positive action” to protect minorities? The answers often come from individuals who brush most closely with the law, whose cases help to continually redefine American civil liberties and rights.
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