Civil liberties - Liberty: absence of constraints upon what a person want to do - These are ilmitationa on the power of gov to restrain or dictate how individuals act - Civil liberties are fundemental freedoms - Liberty is not absolute Incorporation of the bill of rights - Original constitution did not have a bill of rights - Madison came up with the BOR which was ratified on dec 15 1791 - Rights are not granted to the people by the gov, they exist independently of civil society 1. speech, religious, press, assembly 4. search and seizure 5. Double jeopardy, due process, self incrimination 6. jury, speedy trial, witness 8. excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishment 9. other rights retained by people 10. reserved power to the states or people cant favor a religion, or be involved lemon v kurtzman (1971) - secular purpose? - Activity advance/ inhibit religion? - Activity foster government entanglement? Not all speech protected - gitlow v new york (1925): speech representing “clear and present danger” - dennis v US (1951): upheld convition of communist advocating violent overthrow of the US - “fighting words” Symbolic actions may or may not be acceptable depending on the context Commercial speech is generally protected Free press - we had a problem with the English practice of “prior restraint” - John stuart Mill’s “on liberty”: o Censorship may keep out the truth o If an opinion is wrong, it has been tested against the truth
o Our opinions are strengthened when we are given the opportunity to test them against falsehood o