Response 1: Chapter 4- How are our civil liberties being challenged today and how should we respond? (Use video clips/book info) Remember civil liberties are different than civil rights. Today, our civil liberties are in a constant contest. In the crash course video, we were exposed to the distinctions between civil liberties and rights, with rights focusing on social equality and liberties on limitations of the government (hence the Bill of Rights). In today's world; abortion, assisted suicide (the other video), and owning firearms are contested heavily although many feel them essential civil liberties. America is and has always been premised on liberty, popular sovereignty, and freedom; and for proper perpetuation, there must be regular deliberation of rights, liberties, and the violations thereof. Thus, I believe the proper response is to acknowledge firstly the indispensability of such contest while allowing for the most universally beneficial solution to prevail. With these cases of civil liberties, however, there are often infringements of the civil liberties of others that add complexity. On abortion, for example, some view the mother to be rightfully at liberty of choosing the unborn child's fate because it is her body, while others declare it an infringement of the child's right to life. I did also find it interesting (and confusing) that the Bill of Rights is actually a set of liberties, they should call it the Bill of Liberties in my personal opinion.  Response 2: Chapter 4- How are our civil liberties being challenged today and how should we respond? (Use video clips/book info) Remember civil liberties are different than civil rights. Civil Liberties are the individual rights protected by the constitution against the powers of the government, which is basically just limitations on government action. Our civil liberties are being challenged today by authorities who are beating and imprisoning people due to their freedom to assemble and peacefully protest. Just 2 weeks ago 134 people were arrested as they protested to get the green new deal passed that would be good for economic and climate change. Though things happened to many people and things like this happen all the time, one of the girls had an officer put her hand down her shirt and feel through her breasts to find an identification card, which the officer then announced she didn't even need it yet and she would get it later when she is to be processed. another thing that challenges our civil liberties is Death with Dignity as it dicusses in one of the videos. a girl dying of terminal illness and to hop on a plan and move states just to get the care that she needed which is not fair to her and her family.I believe as i touched on in another topic last weeks that guns are a huge topic right now and the right to bear arms is a basic freedom that we have that is being challenged daily because it does not say who can bear arms, where, when, or who can prohibit it at any given t.

1. Response 1:
Chapter 4- How are our civil liberties being challenged today
and how should we respond? (Use video clips/book info)
Remember civil liberties are different than civil rights.
Today, our civil liberties are in a constant contest. In the crash
course video, we were exposed to the distinctions between civil
liberties and rights, with rights focusing on social equality and
liberties on limitations of the government (hence the Bill of
Rights). In today's world; abortion, assisted suicide (the other
video), and owning firearms are contested heavily although
many feel them essential civil liberties. America is and has
always been premised on liberty, popular sovereignty, and
freedom; and for proper perpetuation, there must be
regular deliberation of rights, liberties, and the violations
thereof. Thus, I believe the proper response is to acknowledge
firstly the indispensability of such contest while allowing for
the most universally beneficial solution to prevail. With these
cases of civil liberties, however, there are often
infringements of the civil liberties of others that add
complexity. On abortion, for example, some view the mother to
be rightfully at liberty of choosing the unborn child's fate
because it is her body, while others declare it an infringement
of the child's right to life. I did also find it interesting (and
confusing) that the Bill of Rights is actually a set of liberties,
they should call it the Bill of Liberties in my personal opinion.
Response 2:
Chapter 4- How are our civil liberties being challenged today
and how should we respond? (Use video clips/book info)
Remember civil liberties are different than civil rights.
Civil Liberties are the individual rights protected by the
constitution against the powers of the government, which is
basically just limitations on government action. Our civil

2. liberties are being challenged today by authorities who are
beating and imprisoning people due to their freedom to
assemble and peacefully protest. Just 2 weeks ago 134 people
were arrested as they protested to get the green new deal passed
that would be good for economic and climate change. Though
things happened to many people and things like this happen all
the time, one of the girls had an officer put her hand down her
shirt and feel through her breasts to find an identification card,
which the officer then announced she didn't even need it yet and
she would get it later when she is to be processed. another thing
that challenges our civil liberties is Death with Dignity as it
dicusses in one of the videos. a girl dying of terminal illness
and to hop on a plan and move states just to get the care that
she needed which is not fair to her and her family.I believe as i
touched on in another topic last weeks that guns are a huge
topic right now and the right to bear arms is a basic freedom
that we have that is being challenged daily because it does not
say who can bear arms, where, when, or who can prohibit it at
any given time. we are being challenged by officials trying to
say who can buy, who can carry or conceal, what kind, etc and
the system for it is very unfair and is falling back onto other
people. a big problem for me specifically, which the two go
hand in hand is the right to equal treatment under the law and
right to a fair trial. i don't believe for a second that anyone
whos skin color is not white is treated fairly in most cases. the
amount of minority families affected by police brutality
suggests this and although the number of minority people
brutalized or treated unfair by law enforcement is lower than
white, the percentage is much higher and that makes all the
difference. People are being unreasonably killed, or being
searched without probable cause and imprisoned for years and
years for small things when people who have done harsher
crimes (rape, attempted murder, robbery) are doing less or the
same amount. To respond to all of these things, we need to be
better educated on what our liberties are and to what extent,
including knowing what the statements provided in

3. habeus corpus mean and allow. We need to stop being so scared
to fight back using our voices, continue to vote and also run for
office to remove the power struggle and enact real change. we
also have to find better usage for our social medias and
acknowlege how much privacy we actually have and what we
can do to fend off searches that are unwanted.
Response 3 :
Chapter 5- Create a post about something you found interesting
from one of the video clips on civil rights (not liberties).
Discuss in detail and remember to be academic.
Civil rights are rights that protect individual freedoms from
infringement by the government and social organizations and
ensure that they are not discriminated against or opressed.The
first thing that jumped out at me was in the Diane
Guerrero interview. Not only were her parents freedom and
pretty much everything short of their life taken from them, but
she, their daughter, was left there to grow up on her own
without a system in place to do anything for her. These people
came in while she was in school and deported her family which
was wrong especially because it was for nothing except the fact
that they weren't born here, but left a young girl with no help
besides her generous neighbors and some friends parents which
they couldn't have possibly known would happen. Today that
same system takes children and puts them in cages which is not
the solution either. By the way, did anyone notice the
privelege that the interviewer showed in the video? she said to
Guerrero at one point in the video that it must have been
terrifying for her because every childs worst nightmare is
having their family taken away. I have never in my twenty one
years been afraid that my family would be taken away from me,
nor have i had to think about what i would do if they did. Also,
from the other video, its not something that i found interesting
but i am a little confused about how state vs federal works with
some of these topics we've been discussing. anyone else feel
this way or have some guidance?

4. Response 4:
Chapter 6- Discuss the important role lobbyists and interest
groups play in our society. Or create a post about something
you found especially interesting in the chapter and want to
discuss further.
Lobbyists and Interest Groups are the brains behind our
Congress. They have a large amount of control over
Congress because they highlight the pressing issues that are
concerns for the general population. They have a huge amount
of power over who becomes elected because of their
knowledge behind many social issues. For example, the
National Rifle Association, one of the most powerful lobbying
groups in our government has an great deal of power of
Republican Candidates because they publicly support the
campaigns of those that they know will support their legislation.
Gun Control has remained a hot topic within our Congress for
years due to the high amount of mass shootings that have
claimed the lives of thousands in the United States, but because
of the tedious work completed by the NRA and the members
that wholeheartedly believe in the second amendment,
candidates that will vote in favor of gun control are difficult to
find.
Lobbyists and Interest Groups also act as educators when it
comes to shaping policy. Many of the policy ideas proposed by
members of Congress stem straight from the research and
presentations of these groups. For example, Moveon.org, a
progressive/liberal lobbying group that proposes issues for
anything from raising minimum wage, to the importance of
saving our endangered animals. Moveon.org was the first
lobbying group to raise the question of whether or not to raise
the national minimum wage, and since then this has been a hot
topic for discussion within policy makers, as well as the general
population of the United States. Policy makers develop opinions
and make decisions based on the involvement of lobbying and

5. interest groups, the research and thought put into what is
proposed by people who devote their life to these pressing
issues is highly valued by those in power, and often times, are
the only reason said person remains in power. Without lobbyists
and interest groups, the opinions and beliefs of the general
public would not be represented and reciprocated to those that
legally make the decisions.