Week 7- Constitutional: Civil Liberties

Directions: View the video below (rough transcript provided) and then take the 10-question quiz. There is no time limit and you may attempt the quiz up to two times. Your highest score will be recorded.

Talking Points

• In this week’s Weekly Constitutional, we will discuss civil liberties, those rights found in the Constitution that are considered basic freedoms protecting individuals from the government.

• Freedom of speech, press, religion. The right to a speedy and public trial. No unreasonable searches and seizures. The right to bear arms. These are civil liberties.

• In effect, civil liberties are a way of limiting the government. In fact, the first five words of the Bill of Rights are “Congress shall make no law.” For that reason, the Bill of Rights, as they were originally drafted and ratified, only limited the reach of the federal government, not the states. More on that later.

• Let’s dive right in to the major categories of civil liberties: free expression, religious freedom, and the rights of the accused.

• People like to talk about free speech as if you can say anything you want without consequences. Wrong! First, the First Amendment only protects you from government action. If you run your mouth and upset your employer, and your employer is not the federal government, you can absolutely be punished, demoted, or fired. It happens all time.

• If you’re the CEO of a major corporation and you make a bunch of racist statements during a televised interview, people can stop buying your products. It’s called buycotting. It also happens all the time.

• Second, there types of speech that are not protected by the First Amendment: libel and slander are not protected, so you can’t write or say false and defamatory things about another person or entity; obscenity is not protected, so, you know, you can’t wear a t-shirt with a naked person on it when you go grocery shopping; and falsely shouting fire in a crowded theatre is not protected, so…don’t do that.

• Symbolic speech, or expression without words, is protected as long as the act is legal. So you can burn the American flag, so long as it is your property; but you cannot burn a government-issued draft card.

• There are two types of religious freedom mentioned in the First Amendment, which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment or religion or the free exercise thereof…”

• So, the government cannot establish a religion. That’s right, folks: we do not have a national religion. But, Americans have the right to freely exercise…or not…the religion of their choosing, so long as that exercise does not break the law. Sorry. No human sacrifices allowed.

• One of the most important functions of the Bill of Rights is to protect the rights of those who have been accused of crimes. In fact, four of the 10 Amendments deal with these rights. If you’re wondering why that is, please pick up an American History textbook and read the chapters leading up to the American Revolution.

• So what are the rights of the accused? Well, the Fourth Amendment prevents the government from searches and seizures of personal property without a warrant. The Fifth Amendment guarantees due process of the law and the benefit of a grand jury indictment, and protects against double jeopardy and self-incrimination [I plead the fifth!].

• The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of one’s peers, the right to an attorney, and the right to be informed of all charges. The Eighth Amendment protects against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.

• Now, if you’re thinking to yourself, “Gee, the Framers were obsessed with protecting criminals,” I want you to imagine being falsely accused of a crime. Yeah…you’d be glad to have all those rights. Just sayin’.

• So who gets to enjoy civil liberties? Everyone! Seriously, everyone. Even corporations and organizations have been granted the same First Amendment rights as individuals.

• But before you get crazy, young people, especially at school, have fewer rights than adults. The Supreme Court has expressly declared that young people do NOT shed their rights at the schoolhouse door, BUT limits can be applied to those rights in order to provide a safe educational environment for all students.

• I want to end on the topic of incorporation. Remember how I said in the beginning of the video that the Bill of Rights, as they were originally drafted and ratified, only limited the reach of the federal government, not the states? That’s because, today, through a process known as incorporation, the Bill of Rights now limit the actions of state governments.

• It has to do with the “due process” clause of the 14th Amendment, which the Supreme Court has interpreted as extending our most fundamental personal liberties from infringement by all levels of government. So this means that the federal government can’t house soldiers in my house against my wishes, nor can the state of Florida. Third Amendment! What what!?!?

• All right, so now I’ve taught you everything you need to know about your rights. You’re welcome. Good luck on your quiz!