Top 45 Civil Liberties Quotes

In the 1880s, people all over the world looked to America for inspiration. Its very existence was proof that it was possible to have a relatively free and peaceful country. No income tax, no foreign wars, no welfare state, no intrusions on civil liberties.

Most liberals think of civil liberties as their Achilles heel. It isn’t.

Americans need to understand the significance of having their civil liberties dismantled. It doesn’t just affect terrorists and foreigners, it affects us all.

I believe we should come down very firmly on the guilty without infringing the civil liberties of the innocent, like publishing mobile phone bills.

The key to understanding the impact of the Human Rights Act in the U.K. is to appreciate that civil liberties and human rights are not two sides of the same coin.

I’m witnessing the problems that the federal government is passing down in terms of drones, in violation of our civil liberties, spying on our citizens, death panels in the form of the government taking over the health care system and the national debt they’re just saddling our grandchildren with.

Well, take the evolution of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It began as hackers’ rights. Then it became general civil liberties of everybody – government stay away.

Many members of the Hollywood community are very liberal and they value their civil liberties more than they value life. I disagree with that.

If you know anything about what a lot of the senior leaders at Amazon do in their free time, they spend a lot of time on civil liberties. It’s something that’s very important to me and I think a lot of my peers.

What are we fighting the terrorists for if we ourselves do not even stand up for democracy – civil liberties and fundamental rights – which includes independence of the judiciary?

While everyone is focused on security and civil liberties, Trump’s Cabinet of billionaires will try to quietly push through even more extreme measures to enrich themselves and their class, like dismantling Social Security or auctioning off major pieces of government for profit.

We must erase bin Laden’s ugly legacy, not extend it: by ending the Patriot Act’s erosion of our civil liberties, we can protect the freedoms that make America worth fighting for.

I know that we will be judged in history by not only how we disrupt terrorism but how we protect the civil liberties and constitutional rights of all Americans, even Americans who don’t wish us well. We must do all these things exceptionally well.

I believe that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act must be reformed. We must improve the American public’s confidence in, and perception of, our national security programs, by increasing transparency, strengthening oversight, and safeguarding civil liberties.

The arc of American history almost inevitably moves toward freedom. Whether it’s Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, the expansion of women’s rights or, now, gay rights, I think there is an almost-inevitable march toward greater civil liberties.

For as Jews, the problem happens to be more urgent and vital than for others; because the destruction of religion on America will involve the destruction also of the religious training of freedom; and with that our civil liberties.

I believe in strong civil liberties and a government that intervenes if and only if there is a structural failure that private actions generally cannot solve.

Liberal Democrats in government will not follow the last Labour government by sounding the retreat on the protection of civil liberties in the United Kingdom. It continues to be essential that our civil liberties are safeguarded, and that the state is not given the powers to snoop on its citizens at will.

Using a broad brushstroke, I think Libertarian – most of America are socially accepting and fiscally responsible. I’m in that category. I think, broadly speaking, that’s a Libertarian. A Libertarian is going to be somebody who’s really strong on civil liberties.

I urge calm and sensitivity to the fundamental civil liberties of our country.

It is aspiring tyrants who say that ‘civil liberties end when an attack on our safety begins.’ Conversely, leaders who wish to preserve the rule of law find other ways to speak about real terrorist threats, and certainly do not invent them or deliberately make them worse.

Since I became chairman, I’ve tried to turn EFF into civil liberties and responsibilities.

I am actually one of those who took President Obama at his word when he first ran – that he would get us out of ill-advised wars, that he would do something about health care costs, and that he would protect civil liberties. Like many Americans, I was disappointed.

The spine of the FBI is the rule of law. The spine of the FBI is a commitment to doing the right thing, in the right way, while protecting civil liberties.

New Labour has systematically alienated section after section of our natural supporters – teachers, health workers, students, pensioners, public service workers, trade unionists and people committed to the environment, civil liberties and peace.

For far too long the American public and business sector have kept their silence as civil liberties have been whittled away by statutory and regulatory measures.

Even though some in our government may claim that civil liberties must be compromised in order to protect the public, we must be wary of what we are giving up in the name of fighting terrorism.

With the passing away of Mr Tarkunde, India has lost the father of the Civil Liberties movement in the country.

I believe in civil liberties for homosexuals. I guess I’d have to say I’d draw the line at letting them teach in the schools.

We followed the law, we follow our policies, we self-report, we identify problems, we fix them. And I think we do a great job, and we do, I think, more to protect people’s civil liberties and privacy than they’ll ever know.

Since 9/11, the Bush administration has used that tragic event as a justification to rip up our constitution and our civil liberties. And I honestly believe that one or two 9/11s, and martial law will be declared in our country and we’re inching towards a police state.

How can you be conservative and justify wiretapping people without a warrant? We’re supposed to be the party of personal freedom and civil liberties.

I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society.

Liberals are stalwart defenders of civil liberties – provided we’re only talking about criminals.

We will not let terrorists change our way of life; we will not live in fear; and we will not undermine the civil liberties that characterize our Democracy.

You can gesture at the transnational problem of Islamist terrorism all you like, but it’s just hot air unless you invest in proper security on the ground in your own country, with the right safeguards to civil liberties.

I first met Mr Tarkunde in 1976 during the Emergency, when Civil Liberties had been extinguished and the Habeas Corpus case was being heard by the Supreme Court, which would decide whether one could even approach the courts against illegal detention by the State, during the Emergency.

In 2008, Obama rode to victory in good part by wearing the openness face, casting the Bush administration as intrusive, secretive hawks who had little regard for individual privacy or civil liberties.

There is a need to accept a limited disruption of civil liberties in order to penetrate terror.

I was on the state board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union.

It’s been vindicating to see the reaction from lawmakers, judges, public bodies around the world, civil liberties activists who have said it’s true that we have a right to at least know the broad outlines of what our government’s doing in our name and what it’s doing against us.

Eisenhower was less deferential to the military than he seemed likely to be, Kennedy was not at all beholden to the pope, George W. Bush was smarter than portrayed and Barack Obama has not led a charge from the left – least of all on behalf of the civil liberties that have eroded since September 11, 2001.

With the death of bin Laden, it’s finally time for Congress to bring back the pre-9-11 legal norm, before we decided it was okay to toss out our civil liberties if the ‘bad guys’ were scary enough.

The history of America is to expand civil liberties in a responsible and civil manner. We need to remember that our wonderful Democracy with its freedoms has been working.

The Inspector General issued six reviews and reports on actions taken based on provisions of the act. In those six reports, the IG found that not one violation of an individual’s civil liberties – a total of zero – had taken place since the act was instituted.