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Why Are Individual Civil Liberties Important

466 Words2 Pages

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”- Benjamin Franklin. People who are willing to let police have more power in being hopeful in being safe from crime do not deserve to be safe or free. In our country, protecting individual civil liberties is more important than national security. Civil liberties helps to protect personal freedom with the help of Freedom from Cruel and Unusual Punishments, Freedom from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, and Freedom of Speech.

First, Freedom from Cruel and Unusual Punishments protects us from unacceptable actions due to the suffering or pain it inflicts on the person. “The U.S. Government has taken into custody individuals… held for months in solitary confinement without charge.” “Eroding Liberties”(“ACLV”). If you’re held in custody that doesn’t give anyone the right to punish you or hurt you to get information out of a witness or suspect. “Were subjected to a pattern of physical and verbal abuse.” “Eroding Liberties”(“ACLV”). The Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause states that it restricts the severity of punishments that state and federal governments may impose upon persons who have been convicted of a criminal offense. …show more content…

“Law Enforcement authorities may now conduct secret searches and wiretaps in your home without showing probable cause.” “Eroding Liberties”(“ACLV”). Although secret searches can help our government catch a terrorist it’s a violation of our privacy in many ways. “It revealed NSA has maintained a number of mass-surveillance programmes over its citizens… regardless of whether or not they are persons of interest.”(Edward Snowden: the true story…). The government needs to have probable cause or a warrant, that is signed by a judge to be able to search a person’s house or

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In Bell v. Wolfish, the Supreme Court had to determine if violations of the eight amendments had occurred under the “punitive intent standard” which distinguishes between incarceration and detainment. The court also had to determine if any violations of the eighth amendment had occurred which resulted in cruel and unusual punishment being inflicted upon the inmates who were primarily housed as pretrial detainees. The case alleged that within a new constructed federal jail in New York City

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Chapter 4: Criminal Investigatory Search Warrants

579 Words | 3 Pages

Chapter 4 is titled "Criminal Investigatory Search Warrants. " Search warrant laws are found in the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights. The elements of a search warrant include: (1) an order in writing, (2) issued by a proper judicial authority, (3) in the name of the people, (4) directed to a law enforcement officers, (5) commanding the officer to search for certain personal property, and (6) commanding the officer to bring that property before the judicial authority named in the warrant. Neutral judicial officers such as clerks of court, magistrates, complaint justices, judges, and justices of the peace are allowed to issue search warrants in their permitted jurisdictions. They must have probable cause before they can authorize a search warrant, which is usually done through an affidavit submitted by the law

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Civil Liberties Dbq

147 Words | 1 Pages

To be honest I wouldn’t give up my freedom for increased security from terrorism. Benjamin Franklin stated, “They who would give up essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.” I couldn’t have said it any better. We have been fighting for our rights for a very long time. Many people have died to ensure that people have liberties.

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Fourth Amendment Dbq Essay

699 Words | 3 Pages

“...To explore details of the home that would previously have been unknowable without [going in], the surveillance is a search and is...unreasonable without a warrant” (Doc F). As the government searches homes they begin to forget about warrants and why they are needed. They also forget that there are only four reasons when they can search or seize in a situation. The four reasons are “ hot pursuit, public safety, danger of loss of evidence, permission of suspect” (Background Essay). These are some of the only reasons why law enforcements can search or seize without a warrant.

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Does The NSA Stick To The Statue Quo?

1277 Words | 6 Pages

The U.S follows a different school of surveillance. Despite the fundamental right to be held “innocent until proven guilty”, it monitors everyone until proven innocent. The status quo could of course damage America’s long known liberties granted by the Constitution. Recent revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden, have confirmed that the government is more likely to cross some constitutional lines in the name of national security. “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) regulates the government’s acquisition of any electronic surveillance within the country for foreign intelligence use.

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Offender In Custody Vs Community Corrections

631 Words | 3 Pages

In the scenario, a community corrections officer subdues an unruly offender who is in custody by spraying mace on the offender, and it also affects another alleged violator in an adjoining area. The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that there should not be any cruel or unusual punishments inflicted (U.S. Const. amend. VIII). Based on the facts in the scenario, I do not believe that the offender in custody or the alleged probation violator waiting had their Constitutional rights violated.

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Want To Be Free, By H. L. Mencken

819 Words | 4 Pages

The phrase, “The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe”, by H.L. Mencken, an American essayist and social critic, is an accurate and agreeable statement. What Mencken is trying to say here is that people in this society don’t really look for freedom to do whatever they want, instead they look for the feeling of safety because without safety you can’t live life to the fullest. What is freedom if you don’t feel safe? Mencken’s quote emphasizes the true meaning of safety and gets you thinking about what it would be life if we didn’t have that.

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785 Words | 4 Pages

The Fourth Amendment is “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.” In other words, it is against the law for police to search any person without probable cause and an issued warrant. (Cartoon Surveillance) This protects the privacy of the innocent people that may not be considered guilty. However, giving the people a right to a warrant is only giving them an advantage, while the police and the government have a disadvantage.

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1171 Words | 5 Pages

The Eighth Amendment means no excessive bail, and no cruel of unusual punishment. The Eighth Amendment is supposed to ban post-sentencing torture (Cole para. 9). At Guantanamo Bay, which is a military base on American soil, the Eighth Amendment does not apply. One way they torture people is by depriving them of sleep.

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There was a recent storm in Hollywood, Florida that left many homes without power. This storm also affected prisoners that were still kept in prisons that lacked of power, supplies, and plumbing during the emergency. This situation relates to The Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment protects people from “cruel or unusual punishment”. Some might view that keeping them in prisons is wrong and against their will.

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Importance Of The Fourth Amendment

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Would you like your home to be searched in the middle of the night and have all of your stuff thrown on the ground just because a police officer may think that you have been doing something illegal? Luckily your Fourth amendment right protects you from this ever happening. The purpose of the Fourth Amendment is to protect U.S. citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. During the revolutionary war the British had imposed the writs of assistance which was a law that gave British government much more power over American Individuals. Americans were very unhappy with the writs of assistance because many would be thrown in jail without reason or a very weak one and their property would be destroyed by British officials

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Private Property 4th Amendment

499 Words | 2 Pages

If you have to go through someone else 's property, then you need a warrant. If the court decides that your case is acceptable they can give you a warrant, but if you just want to search someone 's property because you want to,they will not let you do that. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon

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The Benefits Of The First Amendment

482 Words | 2 Pages

Therefore, freedom is an illusion. For example, if we wanted to use our freedom of speech toward law enforcement we would face consequences for disrespecting an authority. Although, the first amendment is supposed to protect us, it does not excuse us from hindrance or consequences. The illusion that we have freedom is merely something created by the ruling power because they create and determine what actions the general public are able to do according to the

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798 Words | 4 Pages

When it comes to policing there is a huge struggle power struggle between individual rights and public order. You want to keep individual rights, but you also want to keep public order while keeping the public safe. It may seem hard to keep the balance between these two, but doing so is of utter importance. Here are some examples of why it can be hard to balance individual rights and public order when dealing with policing.

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1198 Words | 5 Pages

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