Page 8 - 1Proactive Policing
P. 8
Pro-Active Policing
The state of being subject only to laws established for the good of the community, especially with
regard to freedom of action and speech.
Civil liberties or personal freedoms are personal guarantees and freedoms that
the government cannot abridge, either by law or by judicial interpretation, without due process.
Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may include the freedom
from torture, freedom from forced disappearance, freedom of conscience, freedom of
press, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to security
and liberty, freedom of speech, the right to privacy, the right to equal treatment under the
law and due process, the right to a fair trial, and the right to life. Other civil liberties include
the right to own property, the right to defend oneself, and the right to bodily integrity. Within the
distinctions between civil liberties and other types of liberty, distinctions exist between positive
liberty/positive rights and negative liberty/negative rights.
The issue of civil liberties is a vital one to all Americans, if only because the Constitution is often
vague on what those rights actually mean. Even more confusing, there's a significant difference
between civil rights and civil liberties, a distinction that is small but crucial to understanding why
civil liberties are important and protected at all.
Examples of Civil Liberties:
The essential civil liberties guaranteed in the World are, in no particular order:
Right to privacy
Right to a jury trial
Right to freedom of religion
Right to travel freely
Right to freedom of speech
Right to be free from self-incrimination
Right to bear arms
Right to marry
Right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures of your property
Right to freedom of the press
Right to be free from cruel and unusual punishments
Right to legal counsel
8

