Knowra Civil liberties in the United States Civil liberties in the United States Civil liberties in the United States are protections against government infringement of individual freedoms, grounded chiefly in the Constitution, its amendments, and judicial interpretation.
Bill of Rights : The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1791, enumerating protections against government power. Its amendments supply many of the best-known guarantees of individual freedom.
Freedom of speech in the United States : The First Amendment protection against most government restrictions on expression. It governs disputes over political dissent, protest, and other expression.
Marbury v. Madison : The 1803 Supreme Court decision establishing judicial review of federal laws and executive actions. Judicial review became a principal means of enforcing constitutional limits on government.
Civil rights in the United States : Legal protections against discrimination and guarantees of equal treatment in the United States. Civil rights focus on equality, while civil liberties chiefly limit government interference with freedom.
Civil liberties during wartime in the United States : The history of government restrictions on individual freedoms during United States wars and national emergencies. Wartime policies repeatedly test how much liberty governments may restrict for security.
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution : The 1868 amendment guarantees citizenship, due process, and equal protection, and restricts state governments. Its Due Process Clause made most Bill of Rights protections applicable to states.
Freedom of religion in the United States : The First Amendment protection for religious exercise and against government establishment of religion. Its two clauses protect religious practice while limiting government endorsement.
Gitlow v. New York : The 1925 Supreme Court decision assuming that freedom of speech and press apply to states through the Fourteenth Amendment. It marked an early step toward applying First Amendment freedoms against state governments.
First Amendment freedoms : Constitutional protections for religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. These freedoms are a major subset of the broader range of civil liberties.
Japanese American internment : The forced wartime removal and incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry by the United States government during World War II. It demonstrates the severe consequences of curtailing liberty through racialized security policy.
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