Question

Discuss and analyze the term “civil liberties.” What does the term mean? What does it have to do with a democratic society? Use a Supreme Court case as an example to illustrate your point.

Answer 1

Civil liberties refer to freedom of speech, press, religion etc. This are guaranteed by the constitution which cannot be denied to the citizens without due process. These freedoms are different from basic rights which are given to all the people such as access to education, employment etc. This is very important in a democratic society because the government is of the people, by the people and for the people. So, people should be treated as kings of the democratic country thus, they should be given all their basic freedom which shouldn’t be violated by the government. In Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) case, the supreme court determined that government shouldn’t provide direct government assistance to any religious school, thus it protected the civil liberties to freedom of worship which is very private.

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