American Government - Civil Liberties - Quick Guides

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Study GuideAmerican Government–Civil LiberƟes1.PerspecƟve on Civil LiberƟesMany people confusecivil libertiesandcivil rights, thinking they mean the same thing. But they aredifferent.•Civil libertiesare personal freedoms guaranteed to every citizen. They come from theBill ofRightsand thedue process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. These rights include:oFreedom of religion, speech, and the pressoLegal protections for people accused of crimes•Over time, civil liberties have expanded to include issues likeprivacy, abortion, and eventhe right to die.•Civil rights, on the other hand, protect citizens fromdiscriminationbased on race, ethnicity,gender, or disability. These protections come from amendments added after the Bill of Rights.A Simple Way to Remember•Civil liberties= protectionfromgovernment interference.•Civil rights= protections the government provides to ensure equality, such as:oVoting rightsoEqual job opportunitiesoEqual access to housing and educationSometimes the line between civil liberties and civil rights isn’t clear. Many issues involve both.1.1How Civil LiberƟes DevelopedOur current understanding of civil libertiesdeveloped over time, mainly through decisions made bytheSupreme Court.

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Study GuideThe Bill of RightsAt first, theBill of Rightswas seen as protecting citizens only from thefederal government, not thestates.•The Founding Fathers wanted to prevent government abuse. For example, theThirdAmendment, which bans soldiers from staying in private homes without permission, was veryimportant after the Revolution, even if it seems less relevant today.•In 1798, theSedition Actmade it illegal to say or print anything “false, scandalous, ormalicious” about the government. Federalists used this law to jail opponents of PresidentJohn Adams. Today, this law would be unconstitutional, but the courts at the time supported it.At this point, most states had their own Bills of Rights, but protections wereapplied inconsistentlyacross the country.1.2The Fourteenth AmendmentTheFourteenth Amendment (1868)extended civil liberties to citizens at thestate level.•Early Supreme Court interpretations werelimited. States could not take away fundamentalrights without followingdue process, meaning fair legal procedures.•Over time, some judges pushed to use the Fourteenth Amendment to apply theBill of Rightsto the states.This led toselective incorporation:•Instead of applying all of the first eight amendments at once, the Court applied themone byoneas “fundamental freedoms.”•By 1937, most rights in the Bill of Rights were consideredapplicable to the states.Some rights still havelimited or unclear application:•Second Amendment(right to bear arms)–still debated•Third Amendment(quartering soldiers)–mostly obsolete•Seventh Amendment(trial by jury in civil cases)–similar state laws exist•Eighth Amendment(excessive bail, cruel punishment)–also reflected in state lawsEven with these exceptions, selective incorporationgreatly increased the federal government’srolein protecting individual civil liberties.

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Study Guide2.The First Amendment: Freedom of ReligionTheFirst Amendmentlists some of the most important rights Americans enjoy. These include:•Freedom of religion•Freedom of speech•Freedom of the press•The right to assemble peacefully•The right to petition the governmentAmong these,freedom of religionhas often raised challenging questions for the courts.2.1Religion and the U.S. GovernmentThe framers of the Constitution believedreligion should be a matter of personal choice. Unlikesome countries, the U.S. doesnot have an official religion. The First Amendment says:"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."Despite this, questions keep arising, such as:•Should religious organizations get tax exemptions?•Can public schools allow prayer or hold Christmas pageants?These issues have led to complex court decisions.2.2“Wall of SeparaƟon” vs. Government AccommodaƟonThomas Jeffersonbelieved in a strict “wall of separation” between government and religion. Thismeans government should stay out of religious matters completely.Others argue forgovernment accommodation, which allows some support for religion as long as itisneutral—not favoring one religion or religion in general over non-religion.To find a middle ground, the Supreme Court created theLemon testinLemon v. Kurtzman (1971).According to this test, a law is constitutional if:

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Study Guide1.It has asecular (non-religious) purpose2.Itdoes not advance or inhibit religion3.Itdoes not excessively entangle government with religionThe Lemon test has been applied in many cases, although justices often disagree on how strictly tofollow it. In recent years, the Court has leaned towardgovernment accommodation, for example:•Upholdingschool voucher programsthat allow public funds to be used at religious schools2.3Free Exercise of ReligionThe First Amendment also guarantees thefree exercise of religion, meaning individuals canpractice their own beliefs freely.This creates a tricky balance:•Too much accommodationrisks establishing religion•Too strict a separationcan limit deeply held religious practicesThe Supreme Court tries to avoid both extremes. Current rules include:•Laws thattarget a specific religion(like banning animal sacrifice for one group) areunconstitutional•Neutral lawsthat serve a general government purpose (like drug laws) cannot be ignoredjust because of religious beliefsFor example, someone cannot use religious beliefs to justify breaking neutral drug laws.In 1993, Congress passed theReligious Freedom Restoration Act, which required the governmentto accommodate religious practice unless there was acompelling reasonnot to. It also required theleast restrictive actionif limitations were necessary. However, the Supreme Court declared this lawunconstitutional.2.4Ongoing Religious IssuesReligious freedom cases continue to be complex. Some examples include:•Religious groups refusing medical treatment or immunizations•Ceremonies involving animal sacrifice or mind-altering drugs•Violations of restrictions on prayer in public schoolsThe Court supportsreligious freedom, but enforcing a strict “wall of separation” isextremelydifficultin practice.

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Study Guide3.The First Amendment: Freedom of SpeechThe First Amendment guarantees Americans the right tofreedom of speech, but an importantquestion arises:what counts as “speech”?•Some people separatepublic or political speechfromprivate speech. Private speech cansometimes be limited to protect the rights of others.•The Supreme Court hasprotected some types of speech, but not all.•There are two main limits on free speech: itcannot threaten public orderand itcannot beobscene.3.1PoliƟcal SpeechPolitical speech is at the heart of the First Amendment. The courts have often given it strongprotection.•InSchenck v. United States (1919), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said that speech couldbe limited if it posed a“clear and present danger.”oExample: You cannot shout“Fire!” in a crowded theaterwhen there is no fire.•During the early Cold War, this test was used to restrict the speech of socialists andcommunists.oTheSmith Act (1940)made it a crime to advocate overthrowing the government byforce, and the Supreme Court upheld it.•Later, underChief Justice Earl Warren, the Court strengthened political speech protections:oSpeech is protected unless itincites imminent lawless actionor islikely toproduce such action.3.2Public SpeechNot all public speech is political, and some statements can be limited.•Fighting words, or speech likely to provoke immediate violence, arenot protected.•People have been arrested for speech that couldcause a riot or harmful disturbance.•When evaluating laws restricting public speech, the Supreme Court tends to:

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