civil liberties

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Related to civil liberties: Bill of Rights, American Civil Liberties Union

civil liberties

n. rights or freedoms given to the people by the First Amendment to the Constitution, by common law, or legislation, allowing the individual to be free to speak, think, assemble, organize, worship, or petition without government (or even private) interference or restraints. These liberties are protective in nature, while civil rights form a broader concept and include positive elements such as the right to use facilities, the right to an equal education, or the right to participate in government. (See: civil, civil rights)

civil liberties

noun First Amendment guarantees, First Amendment Rights, freedom of expression, freedom of press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, fundamental individual rights, guarantees from the Bill of Rights, human rights, individual rights, right to life, right to peacefully assemble, right to petition government for redress, right to privacy, right to property, right to worship
Associated concepts: civil rights, protection against unwarranted governmental interference

References in periodicals archive ?

The hearing before the Civil Liberties Committee will last three hours.

Belgium : Parliament to assess UK candidate for Security Union Commissioner

A year after the attacks, in September 2002, Americans showed a greater concern for civil liberties, with 62% saying anti-terror efforts should not violate civil liberties and 33% giving anti-terror efforts the higher priority.

Americans Still Say Liberties Should Trump Anti-Terrorism

According to the report, civil liberties improved in Tunisia, described as "the most promising of the Arab Spring countries"; Pakistan showed gains due to successful elections and an orderly rotation of power, while in Africa, gains occurred in Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Madagascar, Rwanda, Togo, and Zimbabwe.

Cyprus is 'a free country'

Judicious and measured, Waghorne and Macintyre are content to tell the story of civil liberties in a narrative sequence.

James Waghorne and Stuart Macintyre, Liberty: A History of Civil Liberties in Australia

Throughout the '80s and '90s the drug war was the principal justification for reducing civil liberties in this country," Nadelmann argues.

Bob Barr and the Libertarians: a former republican congressman joins a third party

The tension you have now between civil liberties and security would alter fundamentally," he says.

The day that changed the world: five years after 9/11, the U.S. and the world are very different places

The true purpose of this bill is to hobble nonprofit organizations, including the ACLU, from working to protect all people's civil rights and civil liberties.

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE IF ATTORNEY NEEDED

Mel Lipman is a Nevada civil liberties attorney and president of the American Humanist Association.

Cartoons, commentary, and restraint

Not unnaturally, Professor Stone himself has decided views on the question of civil liberties and wartime expediency, but it would be difficult to claim that the book is biased one way or another.

Stone, Geoffrey R, Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime

He said everyone was horrified at the July 7 terror attacks but said he was becoming "increasingly concerned" at the gradual and unremitting reduction of civil liberties.

North MP slams Government over `internment' plan

But veteran advocates of civil rights and civil liberties strongly disagree.

Faith-based favoritism: U.S. House supports rollback of religious discrimination ban in job-training bill after Bush push

I very much enjoyed Ruth Conniff's column highlighting the work of civil liberties champion David Cole ("Staying Engaged," February issue).