Introduction to Civil Liberties and Social Issues

A survey of U.S. history reveals cyclical curtailment and restoration of civil liberties. In times of conflict, civil liberties are often restricted. After the outbreak of the French Revolution, the United States passed the Sedition Act of 1798, outlawing various forms of political criticism. Though the law was in force for only a few years, it established precident. The Sedition Act was revived, in more stringent form in 1918 after the United States entered World War I. Hundreds of political radicals were jailed; many immigrants charged as radicals or subversives were deported. Both Sedition Acts are included in this chapter because both were subjects of vociferous protest—even if by a minority of citizens. At the outbreak of World War II, one of the bleakest chapters in U.S. history, Japanese and Japanese-American internment, was described at the time as a necessary national security precaution. Troublingly absent was large-scale protest of internment policies—the reason that the subject is not discussed here even though, second to African slavery, internment policies represent the most egregious abridgement of human rights and civil liberties in the history United States. Several sources in the chapter discuss the Patriot Act and protest responses to the controversial legislation. Similarly divisive issues, including limited domestic survelience of protest activities, are presented as part of a broad conversation on civil liberties after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Two sources focus on the nadir of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and the McCarthy hearings. "A Declaration of Conscience" features Senator Maragret Chase Smith's speech on the Senate floor in protest of the McCarthy inquests. Invoking the protections of the Constitution and the civil liberties granted in the Bill of Rights, Smith asserted that "the basic principles of Americanism [are the] right to criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to protest; [and] the right of independent thought."

This chapter also provides a brief look at social issues that have ignited protest. A temperance protest contrasts a demonstration in favor of ending Prohibition. "Coat Hangers Used in Abortion Protest" provides insight into the origins of one of the most recognized modern protest symbols. The long-divisive issue of abortion spawned not only full-time, dedicated protest movements on both sides of the issue but also laws protecting clinics, patients, and defining legal protest conduct near facilities that provide abortion services. Finally, two articles touch upon protests surrounding the current debate over illegal immigration and immigration law reform.