Isabella Carter
The US Constitution guarantees life, liberty, and property in the Fifth Amendment, which states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, also includes this guarantee, extending the obligation to the states. The concept of due process refers to the assurance that all levels of American government must operate within the law and provide fair procedures. This means that the government must follow fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property, and cannot act arbitrarily or without just cause. The interpretation of life, liberty, or property has evolved over time, with modern society blurring the lines between rights and privileges.
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What You'll Learn
The Fifth Amendment
While the Fifth Amendment originally only applied to federal courts, the US Supreme Court has since partially incorporated it to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This means that protections such as the right against double jeopardy, the right against self-incrimination, and the protection against arbitrary taking of private property without due compensation now extend to the state level.
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The Fourteenth Amendment
The Amendment also includes the following: "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."
This amendment extended the liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. The Bill of Rights, which comprises the first ten amendments to the Constitution, was designed to limit government power and protect individual liberties. The Fourteenth Amendment nationalized the Bill of Rights, making it binding upon the states.
The phrase "equal protection of the laws" from the Fourteenth Amendment has been frequently litigated and has figured prominently in several landmark cases, including Brown v. Board of Education (racial discrimination), Roe v. Wade (reproductive rights), and Bush v. Gore (election recounts).
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Due process
The concept of "due process" primarily refers to the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, which states that no one shall be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law" by the federal government. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, uses the same wording, referred to as the Due Process Clause, to extend this obligation to individual states.
The Due Process Clause has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in two main contexts. The first is to render many provisions of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states. The Bill of Rights, originally, restricted the actions of the federal government but did not limit the actions of state governments. The second is the idea of "unenumerated rights", which are rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. The Ninth Amendment suggests that the rights mentioned in the Constitution are not exhaustive, and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has been used to protect these rights.
The Due Process Clause has been used in several landmark cases. In the 1905 case of Lochner v. New York, the Court used the Clause to strike down economic regulations that sought to improve workers' conditions, on the grounds that they violated workers' "freedom of contract". This case is now widely reviled as an instance of judicial activism. In 1965, the Court struck down state bans on the use of contraception by married couples, citing a "right to privacy". In the 1970 case of Goldberg v. Kelly, the Court found that some governmental benefits, such as welfare benefits, amount to "property" with due process protections.
The exact procedures that are constitutionally due vary depending on the situation. For criminal trials, the Bill of Rights provides explicit answers, while for civil trials, English legal history provides some landmarks. Administrative proceedings, which did not exist when the Due Process Clause was first adopted, present the hardest issues. The Goldberg Court held that the state must provide a hearing before an impartial judicial officer, the right to an attorney, the right to present evidence and argument orally, and the chance to examine all materials or confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses.
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Equal protection of the laws
The US Constitution guarantees life, liberty, and property in the Fourteenth Amendment, which was passed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and ratified on July 9, 1868. This amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people and Black citizens.
The Fourteenth Amendment states that "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." This means that all citizens of the United States are entitled to equal protection under the law, regardless of their race, gender, religion, or any other characteristic. The amendment specifically grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," and it prohibits any state from making or enforcing laws that would abridge the privileges or immunities of US citizens.
The concept of equal protection of the laws is rooted in the idea that the government must treat all people equally and fairly under the law. It is a fundamental principle of democracy and a key component of the social contract between the government and its citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment helps to ensure that the government does not arbitrarily deprive individuals of their rights or discriminate against certain groups of people.
The amendment's equal protection clause has been invoked in numerous Supreme Court cases to challenge laws that discriminate against individuals or groups on the basis of race, gender, religion, or other characteristics. For example, in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the equal protection clause, as it denied African-American children the same quality of education as white children.
The Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws has had a profound impact on civil rights and social justice in the United States. It has been used to challenge discriminatory laws and practices and to expand the rights and protections afforded to marginalized groups, including racial minorities, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities.
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Civil liberties
In the United States, civil liberties are freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution (primarily from the First Amendment). They are natural rights inherent to each person. While they are commonly referred to as "rights," civil liberties actually serve as restraints on how the government can treat its citizens. The First Amendment explicitly prohibits the government from infringing on liberties such as the freedom of speech and religion. The Fourteenth Amendment further protects citizens' rights to life, liberty, and property, stating that no state shall deprive any person of these rights without due process of law.
The existence of some claimed civil liberties is a matter of dispute, including property rights, reproductive rights, and civil marriage. In authoritarian regimes, government censorship may impede on perceived civil liberties, leading to debates about the use of anonymity tools to protect free speech, privacy, and anonymity. The degree to which societies acknowledge civil liberties can be influenced by factors such as terrorism, war, and victimless crimes.
Many contemporary nations have a constitution, a bill of rights, or similar documents that enumerate and seek to guarantee civil liberties. For example, the European Convention on Human Rights enumerates several civil liberties for European countries, while the Constitution of the People's Republic of China claims to protect civil liberties, although critics argue that the government uses vague clauses to imprison critics.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution guarantees life, liberty, and property in the Fifth Amendment, which states that no person shall be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law".
The Due Process Clause refers to the concept that the government must follow fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property. This clause is found in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution.
The Declaration of Independence states that all men are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The US Constitution, including the Amendments, was created to secure these rights and place limits on government power.
In the early 1970s, scholars advocated for a broad interpretation of "life, liberty, or property", arguing that these concepts were directly affected by state action. This represented a shift from the traditional view that distinguished between "rights" and "privileges", with only the former requiring due process.
The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, states that "Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law". This extended the obligation to respect and protect these rights from the federal government to the states.
