Civil Rights and Liberties

Civil Rights and Liberties

Differences between Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Civil liberties and civil rights are terms that are used interchangeably in most cases, even though they have different meanings altogether. Civil liberties are the rights and freedoms that the constitution grants us to shield us from despotism. Some examples of civil liberties are the right to marry, the right to vote, right to a fair court trial, among others. On the other hand, civil rights are the rights concerned with protecting individuals against being discriminated. Civil rights are mostly concerned with people who have a particular characteristic that might be used against their advantage. Civil rights protect discrimination against individuals based on their race, nationality, religion, sex, tribe, or even based on having a disability.

Although both civil liberties and civil rights are granted to individuals by the government, civil rights have an aspect that is protective of the rights depending on the specific characteristics (Stone, 2014). For example,  being accepted as a student despite the gender in a particular field of study say engineering is not considered a civil liberty. However, it is a legal right for any student who can study engineering to be accepted in the field. Denying a female student who can study engineering a chance just because she is female is going against her civil rights.

An example of a case in the U.S court is the case where civil rights are violated is between R.G$ G.R v EEOC$ Aimee Stephens. Aimee Stephens was fired after telling the owner of the funeral home that she was transgender despite her having have worked for over five years I the home. An example of a case is Nielsen v Preap where it was being considered if a person should be detained without hearing just because they have a criminal record, which is violating the civil liberties of the person.

References

Stone, R. (2014). Textbook on Civil Liberties and Human Rights. Oxford University Press.