The overall term for the fundamental liberties, privileges and immunities of citizens that are protected by law
the freedoms people have a right to in a society They consist mostly of freedom of movement and association; freedom of religion, and freedom of expression The idea of civil liberties is deeply embedded in the United States; it is enshrined in the Bill of Rights
The fundamental individual rights of a free society, such as freedom of speech and the right to a jury trial, which in the United States are protected by the Bill of Rights
Those individual rights and freedoms protected by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Federal law and regulations
The form civil liberty is used as a modifier. A person's civil liberties are the rights they have to say, think, and do what they want as long as they respect other people's rights. his commitment to human rights and civil liberties. civil liberty campaigners. = human rights
the full name of the ACLU. Organization founded by Roger Baldwin and others in New York City in 1920 to champion constitutional liberties in the U.S. It works for three basic concepts: freedom of expression, conscience, and association; due process of law; and equal protection under the law. From its founding it has initiated test cases and intervened in cases already in the courts. It may provide legal counsel, or it may file an amicus curiae brief. The Scopes trial was one of its test cases; it provided counsel for the Sacco-Vanzetti case. In the 1950s and '60s it opposed the blacklisting of supposed left-wing subversives and worked to guarantee freedom of worship and the rights of the accused. Its work is performed by volunteers and full-time staff, including lawyers who provide free legal counsel. See also civil liberty
fundamental individual right protected by law and expressed as immunity from unwarranted governmental interference one's freedom to exercise one's rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country
civil liberties the right of all citizens to be free to do whatever they want while respecting the rights of other people. Freedom from arbitrary interference in one's pursuits by individuals or by government. The term is usually used in the plural. Civil liberties are protected explicitly in the constitutions of most democratic countries. (In authoritarian countries, civil liberties are often formally guaranteed in a constitution but ignored in practice.) In the U.S., civil liberties are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution's 13th Amendment prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude; the 14th bars the application of any law that would abridge the "privileges and immunities" of U.S. citizens or deprive any person of "life, liberty, or property...without due process of law" or deny any person equal protection under the law; and the 15th guarantees the right of all U.S. citizens to vote. The related term civil right is often used to refer to one or more of these liberties or indirectly to the obligation of government to protect certain classes of people from violations of one or more of their civil liberties (e.g., the obligation to protect racial minorities from discrimination on the basis of race). In the U.S., civil rights are protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent legislation. See also American Civil Liberties Union