Also known as: freedoms · liberty
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An exemption from external restraint or interference. The exemption is secured by constitutional provisions against governmental action and recognized in common-law rules governing property transfers, personal conduct, and domestic relations.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Frederick Ferguson stands on a public sidewalk distributing religious pamphlets. City police order him to stop unless he first obtains a permit. Ferguson refuses and continues speaking. A court later holds that the permit requirement cannot be enforced against him because it abridges protected liberty.
Flora Ford and Francois Fortier apply for a marriage license in their home state. The clerk refuses because state law bans interracial marriage. The couple sues. A court invalidates the statute because the freedom to marry a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed.
Fidelity Trust owns an apartment building. It refuses to rent a unit to Felicia Fuentes solely because of her race. Fuentes sues under federal and state fair-housing statutes. The court holds that the landlord's freedom to refuse tenants has been substantially limited by legislation protecting against invidious discrimination.
Forrest Falconer loses control of his car on an icy road. External pressure forces him to grab the steering wheel. A court holds that he nonetheless exercised freedom of will because the movement was a willed muscular contraction, even though the pressure was nearly irresistible.
Felicity French receives land under her aunt's will. The will contains a clause forbidding any sale of the land for twenty years. French wants to sell immediately to pay medical bills. A court upholds the restraint after finding that the policy favoring freedom of alienation does not reasonably apply under the circumstances of the case.
Ferrum Metals employees discover that two managers who are married to each other occasionally spank their teenage son at home as discipline. The company reports the conduct to child-welfare authorities. A court dismisses the proceeding because the internal affairs of a family cannot be regulated by the courts and families enjoy freedom from governmental interference in domestic matters.
The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and petition from congressional interference. It also bars laws establishing religion or prohibiting free exercise. These protections extend to individuals and limit government action in multiple domains.
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Yes. The Supreme Court has held that the freedom to marry or not marry a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the state. Racial classifications in marriage statutes are subject to the most rigid scrutiny and cannot stand without a legitimate purpose independent of invidious discrimination.
…legal right. Second, if he has a right and that right has been violated do the laws afford him a remedy? The essence of civil liberty consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws whenever he receives an injury. It is a general rule that where there is a legal right there is also a legal…
…and family life, but the "liberty" protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment covers more than those freedoms
…Negro education in all sections of the country, both before and immediately after the War, is described in Beale, A History of Freedom
…and abstract words of the Due Process Clause but there can be no doubt that at a minimum they require that deprivation of life, liberty
…surprising proposition. Historically, damages have been regarded as the ordinary remedy for an invasion of personal interests in
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No. Federal and state legislation has substantially limited a landlord's freedom to refuse to enter into a landlord-tenant relationship when the refusal would constitute invidious discrimination.
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No. An external manifestation of the actor's will remains an act even when the pressure is irresistible. The fact that reasonable persons could not be expected to resist does not prevent the movement from qualifying as an act, although it may make the act excusable.
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A disabling restraint in a donative transfer is valid only if, under all the circumstances and considering the purpose, nature, and duration of the restraint, the legal policy favoring freedom of alienation does not reasonably apply.
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No. In general the internal affairs of a family cannot be regulated by the courts. Families have the right to expect privacy for actions within their homes and freedom from governmental interference in their domestic affairs.
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