The Importance Of The Right To Privacy

Why are civil liberties considered fundamental and important to protecting U.S. citizens from both their National, State and Local governments? Civil liberties are constitutional freedoms that U.S. citizens have and that the government cannot abridge. The book American Government in Black and White by Paula D. McClain and Steven C. Tauber explains how civil liberties are important to a society. This paper will explain the importance of the selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights, the problems that continue to exist between the governments role in guaranteeing civil liberties to its citizens, and the conflicts with the civil liberty of the right to privacy.
The Bill of Rights were ratified into the U.S. constitution in 1791and they are

citizens but I will discuss the issue with the right to privacy. Privacy is a liberty that is not mentioned in the constitution specifically. This right to privacy is suppose to give U.S. citizens “a zone of control over personal life and this zone of control is immune from government intrusion” (McClain and Tauber 199) but the issue with the right to privacy is that the legal definition of privacy is not clearly stated and that there is always a constant debate on how far the right to privacy should go. One problem with the right to privacy is the issue with the right to die. The right to die is defined as a “individuals right to refuse life-saving medical treatment but does not include the right to commit suicide” (McClain and Tauber 119). There is a Death with Dignity Act that allows terminally ill people to end their lives with lethal medication that are prescribed by a physician and as of 2016 there is only four states with these laws which are California, Vermont, Oregon, and Washington. This Death with Dignity Act constantly conflicts with religious organizations because of personal beliefs. However, The U.S. Supreme court has said that the liberty of the right to privacy “includes the right to refuse medical treatments either directly, through a spouse, or indirectly, through a will” (McClain and Tauber 119) but if none of these options are available, the state will try keep the person alive as long as possible. This shows how the civil liberty of the right to privacy can basically make suicide or murder legal just because the government cannot interfere in an individual’s choice in a difficult