The guaranties found in the state and federal constitutions which are intended for the protection of the individual in his person, his liberty, and his property have not been the result of any theorizing as to what ought to be secured to the individual by way of enjoyment; they have been the result of experience, and they relate to the supposed respects in which it has been found necessary to limit the powers of government in order that the largest practicable measure of individual freedom and opportunity may be secured. Nearly all of them may be traced more or less directly to struggles on the part of the people against the unjust exercise of powers of government in England and in this country.

The guaranty of the right to "life" seems to be intended as a safeguard against inflicting death on persons who are regarded as obnoxious to the government, otherwise than as the result of a regular and orderly procedure for the punishment of crime; hence, the provisions with reference to the method of accusation, trial, and punishment may be regarded as guaranties intended for the protection of the right to life.

But liberty is equally imperilled by criminal proceedings which are not in accordance with regular and orderly methods, and by imprisonment inflicted as a punishment for crime for which there has not been a proper conviction. Therefore, the provisions with reference to the methods of criminal procedure are guaranties both as to life and liberty, and these will be considered in a subsequent chapter as among the provisions intended for the protection of civil rights, although in a popular sense immunity from unjust or illegal criminal punishment is not classified among the civil rights of the individual.

The enjoyment of the largest measure of liberty which can consistently be guaranteed by organized government to the individual involves, however, much more than protection against unlawful physical restraint. Liberty is a most comprehensive term. It suggests, not only freedom of action, but the unrestricted enjoyment of the result of beneficial activity so far as such freedom is not inconsistent with like freedom on the part of others. Civil liberty is therefore impaired when individuals are deprived of protection in the acquisition and enjoyment of property, for the accumulation of property is one of the most substantial results of the freedom of action, the desire for acquisition being one of the strongest desires of human beings. Hence, proper guaranties of civil liberty involve guaranties of property rights and of rights to pursue profitable occupations, and to make and enforce contracts.

The social instincts involve a desire to communicate with others, either for the mere pleasure of social intercourse or for the purpose of persuading or inducing others to act in accordance with one's wishes or for his benefit. Therefore, civil liberty is unduly restricted if the privilege of writing and speaking one's views and sentiments, so far as the privilege may be exercised without involving injury to others, is impaired or taken away. Hence, the so-called freedom of speech and the press is among the rights protected by constitutional guaranties.

Among the privileges most highly prized are those involving the enjoyment of religious forms and observances according to the dictates of individual conscience. Therefore, among the provisions for securing civil liberty are those prohibiting the undue interference with religious beliefs and the expression thereof in suitable forms. The constitutional provisions relating to the protection of these various forms of civil liberty will be discussed in succeeding chapters.

Although the first eight amendments to the federal constitution are limitations only upon the powers of the federal government, and serve as protections of the rights therein guaranteed as against the exercise of federal authority, and have no application as limitations on the exercise of authority by the state (see above, §§22, 196), nevertheless they correspond to provisions found in many of the state constitutions which are limitations upon state power, and the clauses of the federal constitution may therefore be made the text for discussion in separate chapters of the various rights which are usually guaranteed by state constitutions as well. And it will be convenient to follow the order of the clauses as they appear in these amendments in discussing the various topics suggested.