All throughout history civil liberties have been established, fought for, and abused. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the civil liberties in the United States of America were tested. There were many events where the freedoms that our founding fathers had fought for Passive Voice (consider revising). Prejudice, fear, and racism all played a role during these events, during many of which they decided the outcome. Two events that demonstrate when the civil liberties in America were tested were during the trial of Sacco and Vanzettii and Schenek v. United States. Schenek v. United States was a trial in 1919 that reaffirmed the conviction of a man for circulating antidraft leaflets among members of the armed forces. This trial upheld the Espionage and Sedition Acts, which by many deemed unconstitutional. The Espionage Act of 1917 was a United States federal law, which made it a crime for a person to convey information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies. The Sedition Act forbade Americans to use "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government, flag, or armed forces during war. The act also allowed the Postmaster General to deny mail delivery to dissenters of government policy during wartime. These two laws denied the freedom of speech that our sacred Bill of Rights was supposed to uphold. The antidraft flyers that Schenek passed out claimed to be freedom of speech so the government could not stop the circulation of Schenek’s pamphlets. However, by passing out antidraft laws, Schenek had “the intent to interfere with the operation of success of the armed forces of the United States.” By doing this, he broke the law. He was sentenced to six months in prison for breaking an unconstitutional law. The government was trying to reduce the freedom of speech during a time of war so that the nation would be united as one. The opposition of some feared Woodrow Wilson and his cabinet so they took action by reducing some freedoms and imprisoning many people unconstitutionally. The scare of not being united under a time of war was the cause of the Espionage and Sedition acts. These acts immediately caused the unfair conviction of Schenek and put him in prison. Although he was utilizing his freedom of speech, the unfair laws passed through the government by Woodrow Wilson, Congress, and the Supreme Court forbade him his civil liberties.
Many people were hanged, even though they were innocent. Many years later during the WWII era, there was a lot of speculation about communists and their impact in America. This era was known as the McCarthyism era, because, Sen. McCarthy was the leading America into an anti-communist state. In one case in particular was of a U.S. Air Force Lieutenant, Milo Radulovich, who was released from the Air Force due to the fact that his father, read a newspaper which was from Serbia, because he has a Serbian background, the Air Force believed his was pro-communism, since the newspaper favored communism. The Air Force also believed Milo was pro-communist because, his sister peacefully protested outside a hotel which didn’t allow a communist member to stay at.
In the 1920’s a heightened suspicion of communist activities on domestic American land arose, the Red Scare. Benjamin Gitlow, a prominent member of the Socialist party, was arrested and convicted on charges of violating the New York Criminal Anarchy Law of 1902 during these drastic times. What was his violation? The publication and circulation of the Left-Wing Manifesto, a mere pamphlet, in the United States was his infringement. He appealed the decision on the basis that it violated his First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and press and it was passed on to the United States Supreme Court. The court ruled 7-2 in favor of Gitlow on the basis of Section 1 of the Fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Gitlow v. New York exemplifies the protection of civil right and liberties with judicial activism.
Civil liberties can be defined as the basic rights and freedoms of an individual granted to citizens in the United States and the entire world through the national common law or the statute law. The liberties include freedom of association, speech, movement, religious worship, and that from arbitrary arrest. The liberties get to form the roots of democracy in a society. In a dictatorial from of administration, the citizens are denied the rights and freedoms. However, liberties can be described as universal rights and freedoms. During the cold war in 1945 to 1953, the civil liberties got faced by many challenges as the citizens of the US faced and lived in a lot of terror.
...of religion, the freedom to assemble and civil rights such as the right to be free from discrimination such as gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Throughout history, African Americans have endured discrimination, segregation, and racism and have progressively gained rights and freedoms by pushing civil rights movement across America. This paper addressed several African American racial events that took place in our nation’s history. These events were pivotal and ultimately led to the establishment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Civil Rights Act paved the way for future legislation that was not limited to African American civil rights and is considered a landmark piece of legislation that ending racism, segregation and discrimination throughout the United States.
During World War I, congress would authorize two controversial pieces of legislation: the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition act of 1918. The Espionage Act was ratified in order to “suppress the spread of alleged disloyalty and to maintain the public image of remarkable national unity behind the war effort” (James and Wells, 71). The act inhibited the freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and some of which seems the antithesis of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Most of the Espionage Act would be in effect only during times of war, but two of the provisions stayed in effect during times of peace.
As a country it is important that we understand and value the importance of civil rights. The following cases demonstrate the importance of rights and liberties. In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), the Supreme Court ruled on the inherent right to privacy. The Supreme Court ruled that the state could not ban the use of contraceptives. They determined that this was a violation of martial privacy. The state was attempting to fine and/or arrest people that were using any type of medicine or instrument to prevent pregnancy. This case was followed by Roe v. Wade (1973), where the Supreme Court not only gave women the right to privacy but also the right to have an abortion. In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), the Supreme Court gave parents in Ohio the right to use vouchers in order for their children to attend religious or private schools. While these cases protect liberties, the cases involving civil rights are far more reaching. In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court prohibited racial segregation of public schools. In Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986), the Supreme Court ruled that a “hostile environment” related to sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. The impact of protecting our civil rights ensures a more inclusive American
The first inception of individual rights began with the founding fathers of the United States, who had a vision in which all citizens would have the right to live in this country without being discriminated based on race, gender, religion, or sexual preference (US Constitution, 2010). These are basic human rights for which many people lost their lives to protect as this country was formed. Nonetheless, today one lives in a society in which one must fight to continue to posses those rights once again. Similar to the rest of history, when there have many examples of individual rights were not protected.
many aspects of the fight for civil liberties that it is difficult to cover it
Since the beginning of American history, citizens who resided the country lacked the basic civil rights and liberties that humans deserved. Different races and ethnicities were treated unfairly. Voting rights were denied to anyone who was not a rich, white male. Women were harassed by their bosses and expected to take care of everything household related. Life was not all that pretty throughout America’s past, but thankfully overtime American citizens’ civil liberties and rights expanded – granting Americans true freedom.
During the 1960’s, the U.S. had a major breakthrough on the topic of Civil Rights. In the U.S., and many other countries, there has always been discrimination among races. Whether that discrimination was between whites and blacks, whites and latinos, or whites and asians. This discrimination was something that many people were not okay with and the citizens of the U.S. wanted to do something about it. This led to a movement called the Civil Rights Movement.
The Schenck court case of 1919 developed out of opposition to U.S. involvement in World War I (1914-1918). Antiwar sentiment in the United States was particularly strong among socialists, German Americans, and religious groups that traditionally supported antiviolence. In response to this outlook, Congress passed the Espionage Act of 1917. This law provided heavy fines and jail terms for interfering with U.S. military operations or for causing or attempting to cause insubordination or disloyalty in the military. In addition, the act made it illegal to obstruct recruitment efforts of the U.S. armed forces.
Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act (Amendment) of 1918. On April 2nd 1917, President Woodrow Wilson of the United States of America,? went before Congress and called for a declaration of war. Both the House and the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of going to war with Germany. This was an act that led to much resistance among the American people.
There were many court cases that dealt with Civil Rights and Civil Liberties throughout history. An example of a Civil Liberties case that changed criminal justice protocol is the Miranda vs Arizona Case. This court case voted that criminals must be informed their right to an attorney before being put into custody. Stanley I. Kutler from the University of Wisconsin 3 provided that “ The court ruled in 1966 that nothing arrested persons say can be
Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.
United States case law. In this case Defendant Schenck mailed pamphlets to the forces fighting in World War I protesting against the draft system. He was charged with violation of Espionage Act. But he made the point that this Act violated his freedom of speech. Technically speaking, Yes It did violate his right to free speech. But wasn’t that necessary? Those pamphlets can make disturbance to those who are fighting and saving their country in the war. That type of disturbance can be proven very harmful to the nation. So for the sake of the nation they had to make that law so things like that cannot occur, jeopardizing security of the whole