We the People of
the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.
CIVIL LIBERTIES
Fundamental individual rights, such as freedom of speech and religion,
protected by law against unwarranted governmental or other interference.
Those freedoms which are, or should be, guaranteed to persons to
protect an area of non-interference from others, particularly power
holders and legal authorities. Civil liberties are especially invoked to
limit the justifiable coercive power of the state: for example, freedom
from arbitrary arrest, or detention, and habeas corpus; freedom of speech; freedom of lawful assembly; freedom of association and
of movement; and the right not to incriminate oneself. Some civil
liberties are seen as implications of respect for the rule of law; for
example, the right to a fair trial. The importance of civil liberties
has been reflected in attempts to provide constitutional guarantees for
them.
— Andrew Reeve
The Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.