Civil liberties can be defined as rights guaranteed to the citizens or people who are residents of a nation or territory as a matter of fundamental law. They are different from human rights, which are accorded to all people irrespective of where they live (Walker, 2000). Civil liberties are rights for which a national government possesses a contractual obligation to protect. Civil liberties are backed by a bill of rights found in a country’s constitution. On the contrary, human rights are merely implied by one’s status as a person whether the government has made an agreement to safeguard them or not. The civil liberties differ in various countries but there are basic rights such as freedom of speech and the press, rights of the accused, and the freedom of religion. The first amendment of the American constitution grants citizens the freedom of speech, petition, press, and the right of association. The country has embarked on enhancing democracy; citizens can criticize the government’s actions to ensure equality and accountability. Civil liberties are fundamental rights as enshrined in the American Constitution; however, the presence of various cases of human rights violation and abuse, with respect to their freedoms and rights, has being a challenge in the United States of America.
The American Civil Liberties Union has special interest in the 14 amendments rights of due process and equal protection while fighting for the right to privacy. The Civil Liberties of the United States comprise of constitutional protection to individual against entities that are in a higher position of power than they are; these include corporate, individual parties or part of the government. Some of the liberties covered in the American bill of rights among others include the right to bear arms; freedom of speech, and privacy rights. The paper examines the historical violation of the American Civil liberties.
Freedom of speech is perhaps one of the most important American Civil liberties that has faced challenges down the Historical timeline. For instance, in 1978, John Adams signed a bill that forbade individuals from criticizing government officials without backing such criticisms in a court of law. This law was introduced after Thomas Jefferson referred to the incumbent president as an "Old, blind, querulous, Bald, crippled, toothless Adams" (Walker, 2000). During this time, more than 25 citizens were arrested under the new law which was later defeated by Jefferson when he won the election in the1800 thus pardoning the offenders. Later on after the incident, sedition acts shifted their focus on punishing anyone who advocated for civil disobedience. A classic example would be the 1918 sedition act that targeted draft resistors.
In 1821, the novel Fanny hill by John Cleland was banned for a period longer than any other literary work ever published in the history of the United States. The novel was banned on claims that it sounded somehow familiar to the nation’s founding Father Benjamin Franklin. This piece of literary work was never published legally until the ban was overturned by the United States Supreme court in 1966 (ACLU, 2005).
Anthony Comstock is branded one of the villains of US Censorship. In 1872, a renowned feminist Victoria Woodhull made a publication citing an account of an affair that involved a famous evangelical minister and an individual from his vast congregation. Comstock, an individual who personally despised feminists, secretly bought the book under a false name. When she was reported, she was arrested and charged with obscenity charges. Later on, Comstock was made the head of New York society for the suppression of vice. Comstock largely campaigned and succeeded in enforcing federal obscenity law in 1973 that permitted warranted searches on private mail in search for obscene content. Comstock shamelessly bragged about his work leading to the suicide of about five alleged, “smut peddlers”.
For a long period, Hays code was never the responsibility of the government to enforce since the film directors agreed upon it. However, in 1915, a threat of government censorship made it obligatory (Hargreaves, 2002). The Supreme Court had earlier ruled in a case between Industrial commissions of Ohio against Mutual Film Corporation that the first amendment protected movies and foreign films had been seized on claims of obscenity acts. The movie industry made the code in an effort to evade direct government censorship.
Another example of violation of the speech freedom occurred in 1971; the Nixon Administration attempted to prevent the New York Times newspaper from publishing an article. The content involved classified documents known as the Pentagon Papers; the article explained how the United States government operated during the Vietnam War. The issue was taken to court, which ruled in favor of the New York Time. The Supreme Court argued that the US government did not have the right to block the publication of the Pentagon Papers, as this would be a sign of media control. The government would have the right to determine what newspapers should publish, which would be a violation of freedom of speech.
Just before the end of the American civil war, a slave code was enacted that prohibited black American’s, who were then slaves, from legally owning a firearm. President Lincoln issued a proclamation on emancipation in 1863 and the fourth amendment abolished slave trade ending the civil war in 1865. The state maintained on denying black people, who were now regarded free, from carrying firearms. This was enforced under a new law dubbed “black codes”. The main argument was that blacks were not American citizens though given equal rights as such by Lincoln. After the enactment of the fourth amendment, most American States turned to doing neutral business and tax transaction as far as guns were concerned. Nonetheless, the real intentions of these new laws were not neutral (ACLU, 2005). An article published by the University of Virginia’s law review team called for a prohibitive tax. Their argument was that if accorded the privilege, black people results to abrupt unwarranted killings. They painted a picture of a black man drinking whiskey while on board a metro bus. They argued that the “cowardly practice” of gun toting which they associated with black people was a sure way of warranting criminal activities in the United States (Hargreaves, 2002).
Freedom of religion civil liberties is also subject to violation. The first amendment had two clauses namely the free exercise clause and the establishment clause. The free exercise clause states that the congress does not have the right to forbid any form of religion. The establishment clause claims that the congress is not allowed to establish some religions as state religions. The bill of rights protects the freedom of religion, but condemns certain illegal activities such as murder in the name of religion. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act plays a role in protecting the religion rights. The act, in 1993, required the federal government to allow religious behavior unless there is a substantial reason to condemn the practice. The Supreme Court removed parts of the act in 1997, arguing that the Congress had overstepped its power on the issue. The Supreme Court has reviewed and upheld the rights of some religious groups, for instance, to use illegal materials such as peyote, during religious gatherings.
The constitution forbids the government from hindering peaceful assemblies of the citizens, regardless of their aims to gather. The government, however, may prevent such meetings for the fear that they may cause national instability. An example of a historical occurrence on assembly is the 1978 neo-Nazi meeting. The Supreme Court claimed that the Nationalist Socialist Party of America (NSP) did not violate the law by marching through Skokie, Illinois. The American Civil Liberties Union played a role in arguing on behalf of the neo-Nazi Nationalist Socialist Party.
The Supreme Court, with the help of the American constitution, has played a key role in defending the civil liberty rights. The American Civil Liberties Union ensures that the government does not overstep its powers to harm the citizens. America has faced numerous civil liberties’ violation down its historical path. The violations have occurred in all the civil liberties the same government is supposed to protect. Things may be a little different today but the historical injustices are enough evidence of the contribution of the federal government towards the violation of fundamental constitutional liberties. Historically, the federal government has instituted laws that out-rightly violate and fail to safeguard the principal liberties that all American citizens should enjoy. The worst of the injustices date back to the period marking the end of the gilded Era when the African Americans were accorded equal rights as equally participating American citizens. The Lincolns dream took longer to realize than it was necessary. It is essential to encourage civil liberties, for instance, the freedom of speech and press to promote democracy. The government had violated the freedom of press by preventing New York Times from publishing an article; it involved the government’s operations in Vietnam. This is an indication that the policy makers can control the citizens unfairly if given a chance. There is a need for bodies such as the courts and human rights agencies to act as checks and balances for the government.
References
American Civil Liberties Union., & Princeton University. (2005). American Civil Liberties Union archives. Wilmington, Del: Scholarly Resources.
Hargreaves, R. (2002). The first freedom: A history of free speech. Stroud: Sutton.
Walker, S. (2000). In defense of American liberties: A history of the ACLU. New York: Oxford University Press.
