Magruder's American Government: 8. Protecting Civil Liberties, Sections 1–4

In general, civil liberties are protections against government. They are guarantees of the safety of persons, opinions, and property from arbitrary acts of government.

In contrast, civil rights are often associated with positive acts of government that seek to make constitutional guarantees a reality for all people.

The Supreme Court has often held that “persons” includes aliens, people who are not citizens of the country in which they live.

The Supreme Court has often said that the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause means that no State can deny to any person any right that is “basic or essential to the American concept of ordered liberty.”

The Supreme Court has answered that question in a long series of cases in which it has held that most (but not all) of the protections in the Bill of Rights are also covered by the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and so apply against the States. In deciding those cases, the Court has engaged in what has come to be called the process of incorporation.

It prohibits (1) “an establishment of religion” (in the Establishment Clause), and (2) any arbitrary interference by government with “the free exercise thereof” (in the Free Exercise Clause).

That law required parents to send their children to public schools. It was purposely intended to eliminate private and especially parochial (church-related) schools.

Libel is the false and malicious use of printed words; slander is the false and malicious use of spoken words.

Libel is the false and malicious use of printed words; slander is the false and malicious use of spoken words.

Sedition is the crime of attempting to overthrow the government by force or to disrupt its lawful activities by violent acts.

Seditious speech is the advocating, or urging, of such conduct.

Thus, a person can “say” something with a facial expression or a shrug of the shoulders, or by carrying a sign or wearing an armband. This expression by conduct is known as symbolic speech.

Picketing involves the patrolling of a business site by workers who are on strike. By their conduct, picketers attempt to inform the public of the controversy and to persuade others not to deal with the firm involved. Picketing is, then, a form of expression.

With almost no exceptions, however, government cannot curb ideas before they are expressed. That is, except in the most extreme situations, government cannot place any prior restraint on written or spoken expression.

The Nixon administration sought an injunction to bar their publication, arguing that national security was at stake and the documents (government property) had been stolen.

The Constitution protects the right of the people to assemble to express their views. It protects their right to organize to influence public policy, whether in political parties, interest groups, or other organizations.

It also protects the people’s right to petition—to bring their views to the attention of public officials by such varied means as written petitions, letters, or advertisements; lobbying; and parades or marches.

A significant part of the history of this country can be told in terms of civil disobedience. That is to say that much of our history has been built out of incidents in which people have purposely violated the law—nonviolently, but nonetheless deliberately, as a means of expressing their opposition to some particular law or public policy.

Government’s rules must be content neutral. That is, although government can regulate assemblies on the basis of time, place, and manner, it cannot regulate gatherings on the basis of what might be said there.

The guarantees of freedom of assembly and petition include a right of association—the right to join with others to promote political, economic, and social causes.