...I chose the civil liberties because I think that it is important for someone to choose their own religion and beliefs without causing any trouble. Having the freedom to speak, choose your own religion and to vote for whomever you want to vote for is important to the American people. I chose the subcategory “The Free Exercise Clause”, because it upholds the rights of the American people to decide on any religious belief and to be able to exercise their beliefs without getting in trouble with the law. One example of a public policy that is designed to protect the civil liberty is the “moment of silence” in schools. The moment of silence is done in all the schools in the morning during the announcements and there is silence for 60 seconds with no sounds or interruptions. This gives everyone the opportunity to pray, meditate or even just sit and think without being disturbed. I support this policy because everyone has their own right to pray without disturbing the rights of others and those who don’t chose to pray also have the right to sit without disturbing the ones who are praying. The article that I chose to write about was originally written in the American School Board Journal paper and was written by Edwin Darden in 2008. The title of the article is “Is Silence in the Classroom Really Golden”? He explains that having silence in the classroom is great to have but are we having it in our classroom just for religious purposes? He asks if a mandatory “moment of silence” in public...
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...Civil Liberties and Terrorism Ashley Larman POL201 Instructor Tracy Trunnell 4/22/12 Civil Liberties and Terrorism “All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it” Alexis de Tocqueville. I personally believe that we do not need to restrict our civil liberties as stated in the Bill of Rights in order to protect American citizens from terrorist organizations. Civil liberties are the personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge, either by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation which include the freedom from slavery and forced labor, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right to privacy, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, and the right to marry and have a family ( Conner, Sabato, 2011). Yes, it is very important for us to worry about terrorism and to defend our country but it is not necessary for our government to take away our civil liberties in the process. So where does this leave us? Do we let terrorism scare us into losing our civil liberties or do we ignore terrorism and keep our rights? I do not think we have to compromise our safety from terrorism to keep our civil liberties, there has got to be a common ground where everyone can keep their civil liberties and still be safe from terrorism...
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...Gita Shrestha Professor Sherry Sharifian GOVT 2305 September 29, 2017 Civil Liberties and Civil Rights The state of being free where government cannot abridge from any law or judicial interpretation without due process is known as civil liberties. According to Oxford dictionary, “Civil Liberty is the state of being subject only to laws established for the good of the community, especially with regard to freedom of action and speech.” Hence in simple form we can say civil liberty is the freedom or rights we got since we are born. 1 Civil liberties may include freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly right to fair trial etc. To talk about civil rights, Oxford Dictionary defined,...
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...1 Civil Rights vs. 2 Civil Liberties Civil Liberties can be defined as the state of being subject only to laws established for the good of the community, especially about freedom of action and speech. 3 Civil rights can be defined as the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality. Civil rights and civil liberties have their own rules and sector where they can be claimed or used. Civil rights aren’t like civil liberties but can be used in some same cases. There isn’t much similarity between these two but since the fact that these rights and rule can be used against a government officials who has been using their power for self-profit only. They differ because civil liberties are laws established for good of community where as civil rights are rights of citizen which allow them to use all the public stuff provided from the government without any discrimination on race, skin color, religion, etc. 4 the civil sequence that has more influence on my life will be freedom of religion. I believe this to be true because being an international student from a Hindu country I have seen different peoples from different part of world living happy and peaceful life following their own religion and their own nationality so for me freedom of religion been working perfectly on this country....
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...Escamilla 3 Zoily Escamilla Professor Sharifian GOVT-2305-71433 8/31/2017 Civil Liberties v. Civil Rights Civil Liberties are basically the freedom of citizens being able to exercise their basic rights off of the Bill of Rights without the government interfering. Civil Liberties include freedom of speech, privacy, right to marry, vote, bear arms, legal counsel, and the list goes on. Civil Rights are people being protected from discrimination of certain characteristics for instance, sexual preference, gender, and race. Civil liberties and civil rights are similar in which they both protect citizens and are supposed to help us feel safe and protected by the government. Civil Rights are more specific in my opinion, Civil Liberties are just basic rights being protected. Civil Rights have more of an influence in my life because I like the idea that if...
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...GOVT-2305-73431 9th Feb 2018 Civil Liberties vs Civil Rights Civil liberties and civil rights’ concepts are frequently used interchangeably but they do represent the various types of guaranteed protections. Civil liberties are the limitations placed on government that provide protection to the people against their actions. 1 For example, the first amendment of the Bill of the rights provides freedom to their citizens to follow whatever religion they like. So, the government are not allowed to interfere on freedom of the people to worship. However, on the other hand civil rights are control on the power of the majority to create equal conditions to all the Americans. Citizens are protected by some positive actions of the government from the discrimination by the majorities. 2 Protection of minority groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and women are some examples of civil rights....
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...Pamela Garrett How important is the right to privacy? The right to privacy is not listed in the U.S Constitution, “but the Supreme Court has said that several of the amendments create this right. One of the amendments is the Fourth Amendment, which stops the police and other government agents from searching us or our property without "probable cause" to believe that we have committed a crime. Other amendments protect our freedom to make certain decisions about our bodies and our private lives without interference from the government - which includes the public schools.” These rights are very important to citizens in society. Without these rights, each citizen will be suppressed and violated. The rights of the individual should always be upheld. We obviously have far more rights to privacy than the citizens in the book "Matched" by Allie Condie. In the book Matched by Allie Condie, the citizens are forced to contend with a lack of privacy in their society. This lack of privacy is dangerous to society because of certain violations that this can bring; such as inference of the government in our daily lives and restriction of the fundamental rights that we are entitled to. In the book Matched, the government keeps an eye on every citizen. This constant surveillance is evidence of the lack of privacy going on in their society. The issue of lack of privacy is a major one in the story, and it was an issue that America has had to deal with. I cite the Patriot Act as an example. The...
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...The American Civil Liberties Union: Strategy and Vision The American Civil Liberties Union, otherwise known as the ACLU, has an extensive and influential history in the United States. The ACLU has ambitious legislative goals in the near future. In order to accomplish these goals, this interest group must fight vigorously for the public’s hearts and minds, as well as the democratic power of Congress. The organization started in the year 1920 after years of anti-war protests and the Red Scare that lead to the infamous Palmer Raids. A group of citizens banded together with the purpose of protecting the basic rights of everyday Americans. While initially, most of the ACLU’s support was directed towards socialist and communist rights, the organization eventually expanded to include minority groups oppressed by discrimination, women’s rights groups, and virtually any citizen who felt their civil liberties had been violated. The goal of the ACLU is to make sure that everyone in the United States is equally protected by the Bill of Rights from government abuse. Although the ACLU is a non-partisan organization, its views tend to typically lean towards the left, and many of its supporters tend to be either liberal or libertarian (votesmart.org). The interest group tends to run into controversy often since it is willing to defend the rights of certain infamous groups such as the Neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. It’s important to note that the American Civil Liberties Union is the...
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...Liberty is defined as the freedom to choose to behave, think, speak or simply be present in an area without fear of punishment. In order to properly understand the concept of liberty, it is important to understand the term power because power develops the freedoms that emerge when discussing liberty; power in this instance is the ability to do or act. In most modern states, the state grants citizens the power to legally engage in certain behaviors as long as these are in obedience to their legal system. Liberty is a relative term as liberties in the modern world are granted by states. This disparity can be observed with the contrast of speech liberties in China with Chinese “ firewall,” which bans social media websites like Facebook. When...
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...be watching; therefore, society grapples with the relationship between civil liberties and homeland security. Belief structures underlying the relationship of liberty and security vary among different political orientations in the United States. The disclosure that the Obama administration surreptitiously accessed phone records and infiltrated the internet activity of millions of Americans, has elevated brand-new questions about the public’s enthusiasm to sacrifice civil liberties in the interests of homeland security. This thread will provide a brief synopsis on how American’s can understand the balancing of a civil liberties perspective...
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...After reading the theory of Paul Rosenzweig, I found it to be interesting on what he thought of civil liberties and physical security in regards to the United States. I feel that civil liberties and physical security are both importance but however the importance of each one changes due to certain situations. I believe in order to have freedom in our country, we do need to feel safe and that we have are entitled to our civil liberties. It is written in the Declaration of Independence saying that all men shall be entitled to have life, liberties, and the pursuit of happiness. In order to maintain life even though it may put a limit on liberties one must retain these liberties even if it means some will be unhappy. After putting security measures in place to protect our rights to live and...
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...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. Within months of the Civil War’s end, former Confederate states passed Black Codes to regulate the behavior of the former slaves as well as their status. Congressional Reconstruction was still a year away, and white Democrats who governed state legislatures passed laws that restricted the liberty of the former slaves. Although Black Codes granted African American certain rights such as legalized marriage, ownership of property; the laws prohibited interracial marriage for the fear of weakening the White race, denied them the rights to testify against Whites in court, jury service and the right to vote. The Black Codes also forced African Americans to labor and constrained their freedom of movement. Individuals not under control of white land owners...
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...Americans today enjoy many civil liberties regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation or ethnic background. The road to earning these civil liberties has been tainted with much pain, tears and suffering. It has not been easy for the different groups represented within the population of Americans to obtain and protect their rights. This essay will recount the bloody paths Americans of all colors had to follow in order to enjoy the civil liberties which so many take for granted today. The origins of civil liberties for the United States dates back to England. The United States has a clean start by including the Bill of Rights in the American Constitution. The Bill of rights at first were the symbolism of American ideals because there was no way of enforcing them until 1803 where in the case of Marbury v. Madison the Supreme Court took action in striking down laws for the first time that were considered unconstitutional. From that point on the Supreme Court established a precedent of wielding the power to strike down any unconstitutional legislation. Marbury v. Madison happened long before the Civil War and before any of the other cases mentioned. However its importance to civil liberties is essential to any civil liberty essays because it was the one case that allowed for the Supreme Court to take action and enforce the bill of rights along with any other law that is deemed unconstitutional. It was this case that brought about the exercise of judicial review in the United States...
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...History 12-03-15 Civil liberties were restricted in World War I through laws passed by Congress. The two most important of these were the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. What these laws did was essentially ban criticism of a variety of government activities. The laws were aimed at suppressing any dissent against the war. In order to do this, these laws did such things as prohibiting any speech that was disloyal or that would cause people to view the government with contempt. These were very broad restrictions on civil liberties, particularly given the fact that people violating them could be punished by imprisonment. The Espionage Act of 1917 essentially made it a crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the country’s enemies. Anyone found guilty of such acts would be subject to a fine of $10,000 and a prison sentence of 20 years. The Sedition Act made Espionage Act more specific by making it illegal to use disloyal, profane, or abusive language to criticize the U.S. Constitution, the government, the military, the flag, or the uniform. The government had the authority to punish a wide range of speech and activities such as obstructing the sale of U.S. bonds, displaying a German flag, or giving a speech that supported the enemy’s cause. As mentioned above the Sedition Act of 1798 and the Espionage Act of 1917 sought to curtail civil rights as protected...
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...Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror POL 201: American National Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror Habeas Corpus is a term unlikely known to many detainees in Guantanamo Bay. The war on terror has gone from protecting our country from terrorist, to slowly but surely doing onto these detainees what other tyrants were doing before us. Habeas Corpus is a law that was placed in the constitution in order for guarantee that no one would be held prisoner without a trial. According to the constitution the writ to Habeas Corpus is implemented to prevent tyranny and false imprisonments. In the length that our nation has been around there has only been three instances in which the habeas corpus writ was suspended. The first was after the civil war (during the reconstruction) and most recently during the War on Terror. The War on Terror has brought the Habeas Corpus writ into different perspective when it was approved that the writ be suspended for prisoners in Guantanamo Bay (GITMO). The Bush administration went under severe scrutiny after choosing GITMO as a detention center for “enemy combatants/illegal combatants” and suspending the Habeas Corpus writ to them. There had been no legal aid provided so that the detainees could attempt to prove innocence. In the over zealous need to prevent further terrorist attacks in a way we condoned terrorist like ideals. In 2008, the verdict in Boumediene v. Bush the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration...
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