Civil Rights v. Civil Liberties

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Abstract

While conservatives and liberals generally invoke the U.S. Constitution for different political ends, they have increasingly converged in prioritizing a civil liberties approach over a civil rights approach to constitutional rights. Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, civil liberties and civil rights describe distinct and, in some cases, mutually exclusive concerns. The civil liberties approach to constitutional rights emphasizes individual rights and the need to protect them from the interference of the government; the civil rights approach emphasizes group

Author

• Mary Anne Franks, University of Miami School of Law