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Northern Virginia Community College
U.S. Government Ii (PLS 212)
the limits placed on government so that people can freely exercise their rights are called
Chapter 4 : Civil Liberties
Civil Liberties – the limits placed on government so that people can freely exercise
their rights
The Rise of Civil Liberties
o Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Civil rights – the freedom to participate in the full life of the community
– to vote, use public facilities, and exercise equal economic
opportunity.
Civil liberties require government action to help secure individual
rights; civil liberties restrict government action to protect individual
rights.
Until people have wo their rights and the idea of protecting them is
meaningless
When the governments enforce civil rights for some people, they often
limit the liberty of others.
o The Slow Rise of Rights
The first amendment begins, “Congress shall make no law” prohibiting
the exercise of religion or restricting speech
The Bill of Rights eventually reached the states thanks to the quest for
civil rights
Selective Incorporation – extending protections from the Bill of Rights
to the state governments, one right at a time
o The Supreme Court neatly defined civil liberties in 1943: the Bill of Rights
withdraws certain subjects from political controversy and places them beyond
the reach of majorities and officials
o The Bill of Rights did not apply to the states until the 14th amendment required
that no state could deprive any citizen of life, liberty or property
o The court applied the Bill of Rights to the states one right at a time between
1897 (no taking of property without compensation) and 2010 (the right to bear
arms)
Privacy
o Penumbras and Emanations
The penumbras – literally, the shadows – of the First Amendment
create “zones of privacy” in which people have a right to make their
own choices free from government interference
o The court discovered a right to privacy implicit in the shadows of the 1st, 3rd,
4th, 5th and 9th amendment.
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