Essay On Civil Rights And Civil Liberties

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Pranil Thapa Prof. Sherry Sharifians GOVT 2305-73062 February 11,2018 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in America Civil rights are expansive sets of rights put in place with the aim of protecting citizens from unfair treatment from an elected government. In other words, they are rights that guarantee an equal treatment of all the citizens regardless of their political affiliation (Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams, et al, p.15). They advocate for fair treatment for all in areas such as education, housing, public accommodation and employment among others based characteristics that are legally protected by the constitution. Similarly, civil rights are curbs designed to protect the powers of the majority and ensure that they make decisions that benefit everyone in a country. They protect citizens from any form of discrimination by the majority. On the other hand, civil liberties are limitations placed on the government to prevent it from doing things that might interfere with personal freedom of its citizens. Civil liberties are freedoms …show more content…

For instance, the law enforcement agents have in many cases made decisions that are inconsistent with the requirements of the constitution in cases where they have been targeting the blacks and the Hispanics in the stop and frisk provision of the constitution. There are potentials of violating the civil liberties or civil rights because people are stopped on the way without any reasonable cause and detained for some hours before they are released. This violates the freedom of movement of people. The Supreme Court has made landmark rulings on the cases brought before it. For instance, in the recent past, the Supreme Court opined that the police were using the stop and frisk provision to target the Hispanics and the African Americans. Therefore the Supreme Court held that the stop and frisk rule violates the requirements of the fourteenth

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