The Quest for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

As you read in the discussion introduction, civil liberties and civil rights are salient rights enshrined by the U.S. Constitution, subsequent congressional legislation, executive actions, and judicial decisions. Whereas many times civil liberties and civil rights are used interchangeably, the two terms are distinct.

Many civil liberties and civil rights are either directly written into the U.S. Constitution or later legislated by an Act of Congress. That said, many of America’s important civil liberties and civil rights are the result of Supreme Court decisions.

With this in mind, in the Unit 6 Assignment, you will write an essay analyzing the judicial intersection of civil rights and civil liberties.