Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Glossary

Individual freedoms protected from government interference, primarily guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and protections related to criminal justice procedures.

Legal guarantees of equal treatment under the law regardless of race, gender, religion, national origin, or other protected characteristics, enforced through the Equal Protection Clause and federal civil rights legislation.

The constitutional requirement that the government respect all legal rights owed to a person. Procedural due process requires fair procedures; substantive due process protects fundamental rights from government infringement regardless of procedural fairness.

The Fourteenth Amendment provision requiring states to treat similarly situated persons equally under the law, enforced through tiered judicial scrutiny: strict scrutiny for race, intermediate for gender, and rational basis for most other classifications.

The judicial doctrine through which the Supreme Court has applied most Bill of Rights protections to state governments via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, decided case by case rather than all at once.

The most demanding standard of judicial review, applied when government action involves suspect classifications or burdens fundamental rights. The government must demonstrate a compelling interest and prove the law is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.