Civil Rights: Personal liberties that belong to an individual, owing to his or her status as a citizen or resident of a particular country or community.
Civil rights belong to each of us as individuals. The government can not restrict them or take them away without a Constitutional Amendment. We MUST fight to preserve them and elect people who will lead that fight.
If you feel the government is infringing on these civil rights, call your congressman and demand that he/she defend your civil rights! If they won’t, work to get a new congressman elected next time.
The government is not allowed to establish an official religion (including atheism), nor can they prevent you from worshiping according to the dictates of your conscience.
The government can not abridge (diminish, lessen, restrict, curtail) these rights: Speech, the press, peaceable assembly, petition the government to fix things we think they are doing wrong, to keep have, carry and use weapons.
The government can not search or take away our property without a warrant based on evidence or a witness of wrong doing, that specifies exactly what they are looking for and where they will look.
The government can not put you on trial for a major crime without a Grand Jury indictment (Excluding the military during time of war or emergency). They cannot try you for a death penalty offense more than once if you are acquitted. They can not force you act as a witness against yourself, they cannot kill you or take away your freedom or property without “due process of law.” If the government needs to take your land for a public use, they must pay you a fair price.
If accused of a crime, you have a right a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury you have the right to be informed of the charges and why they were brought against you. You have the right to confront with the witnesses against you and have witnesses in your defense. You also have the right to an attorney. You have a right to a trial by jury, and higher courts can’t reverse the decision of a jury. The government can’t require excessive bail or fines, or impose cruel and unusual punishment.
A couple of other great things are that just because there is a list of rights, that doesn’t mean we the people can’t have other rights, and that any power not granted by the Constitution to the Federal Government, belongs to the States or We the People.
And that’s just the Bill of Rights!
So, get out there and stand up for your civil rights!