For this week's discussion board, I want to reflect on the previous pages in this module.   In this discussion board, I want to you to show an understanding of the material covered in the previous pag

Overview of the Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties

Before examining the Bill of Rights, it is first important to define the terms civil liberties and civil rights

CIVIL LIBERTIES:  Constitution guarantees that protect citizens, opinions, and property against government interference.  Another term for "liberty" is freedom, so essentially these are things in the Constitution that talk about our freedoms.  Civil liberties are also limits to the federal government's power; meaning, these are things the government cannot do.  Civil liberties were things that the Anti-Federalists strongly supported and the Bill of Rights were a compromise reached to address the concerns of the Anti-Federalists.  If you examine the first seven articles of the Constitution, you will see that there are almost no limits to the federal government's power.  The articles primarily establish what the government CAN do not what the government CANNOT do. 

Civil liberties are found in the Bill of Rights.  Essentially, the Bill of Rights are a list of freedoms that we the people have and also a list of limits to the federal government's power.  

The Bill of Rights refer to the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.  

CIVIL RIGHTS: protection of the rights of all individuals and are positive acts of government for the purpose of protecting individuals from discrimination.  Essentially, civil rights are things the government MUST do and are ways the government is supposed to protect the people.  The particular focus of civil rights is on equality and non-discrimination; meaning, the federal government is supposed to treat all people equally. 

Civil rights ARE NOT found in the Bill of Rights.  Instead, the are primarily found in some of the later amendments to the Constitution; meaning, after the first 10 amendments.  

We will study civil rights in more detail in a few weeks.  The civil rights amendments will NOT be on the first exam. 

https://youtu.be/wa6al1p8WzU

FULL TEXT OF THE 1ST AMENDMENT: 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Although technically only one sentence long, this amendment has A LOT going on in it.  

First, we have the idea of freedom of religion.  Additionally, there are two parts to the freedom of religion.  The first part is what is called the Establishment Clause ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion").  The Establishment Clause means that Congress cannot declare a national religion and cannot pass laws that clearly prefer one religion over another.  The second part is the Free Exercise Clause ("prohibiting the free exercise thereof").  The Free Exercise Clause means that we the people have the ability to practice any religion we want, or to not practice a religion.  

Second, we have the freedom of speech (more of this freedom will be covered on the next page). 

Third, we have the freedom of the press. 

Fourth, we have the right to peaceably assemble. 

Fifth, we have the freedom to petition the government.  This freedom often gets overlooked, but it is incredibly important.  Essentially, this freedom says that if we do not like something the government is doing, we have the right to sue the government or take some kind of legal action against it.  It also means we have the freedom to lobby, or influence, the government.  

All 5 of these freedoms are contained in the 1st Amendment.  That's a lot of VERY important freedoms!! However, you should note, that even though these freedoms are in the 1st Amendment, these freedoms are vague and ambiguous.  This had led to a lot of debate over what they mean and what the limits are to them.  We will examine some of these debates in the next several pages.  

Here is the exact wording of the 2nd Amendment: 

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

This one sentence has also led to A LOT of debate in our country over the topic of guns.  There are a number of debates and questions that arise from this amendment.  Here are some of them: 

• The amendment mentions the term "a well regulated militia."  This seems to imply that regulations or limits on gun ownership are ok.  But how many regulations? What kind of regulations?  Also, how difficult should it be to get a gun?

• The amendment also mentions the word "militia" which is a type of military group/unit.  So, some question whether the 2nd Amendment actually grants individual people the right to own a gun or rather it grants military units/forces the right to own a gun. It should be noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that individuals DO have the right to own a gun, but there is debate over whether that interpretation of the amendment is correct or not. 

• The amendment was written in 1791.  Gun technology has changed dramatically since 1791.  Should we view the amendment differently in 2019 than it was viewed in 1791?  Meaning, is it an outdated amendment?  

These are all common debates.  Due to the vagueness and ambiguity of this amendment, it is not entirely clear what, if any, limitations there are to gun ownership.