Editing Civil liberties (section)

==North America==

===Canada===
The [[Constitution of Canada]] includes the [[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]] which guarantees many of the same rights as the U.S. Constitution. The Charter omits any mention of, or protection for, property.

===Mexico===
The [[Constitution of Mexico]] was ratified on February 5, 1917. Similar to the U.S. Constitution, the United Mexican States provides all citizens the right to freedom of expression, but this right is not absolute (for example, [[child pornography]], [[death threats]], and [[defamation]] are exceptions to freedom of speech, and offenders can be subject to penalties). However, unlike the United States and Canada, Mexico has stricter limits on citizenship. For example, only people born in [[Mexico]] may take roles in law enforcement, legislating, or enlist in the armed forces. It also states each person born in Mexico cannot be deprived of their citizenship status.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www2.juridicas.unam.mx/constitucion-reordenada-consolidada/en/vigente | title=Constitución reordenada y consolidada | access-date=2023-06-27 | archive-date=2017-11-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106085715/https://www2.juridicas.unam.mx/constitucion-reordenada-consolidada/en/vigente | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===United States===
{{main article|Civil liberties in the United States}}
The [[United States Constitution]], especially its [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], protects civil liberties. The passage of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] further protected civil liberties by introducing the [[Privileges or Immunities Clause]], [[Due Process Clause]], and [[Equal Protection Clause]]. Human rights within the United States are often called [[civil rights]], which are those rights, privileges, and immunities held by all people, in distinction to ''political'' rights, which are the rights that inhere to those who are entitled to participate in elections, as candidates or voters.<ref>America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar</ref> Before universal suffrage, this distinction was important, since many people were ineligible to vote but still were considered to have the fundamental freedoms derived from the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This distinction is less important now that Americans enjoy near [[universal suffrage]], and civil rights are now taken to include the political rights to vote and participate in elections, being furthermore classified with civil liberties in general as either [[Negative and positive rights|positive rights or negative rights]]. Because Native American tribal governments retain sovereignty over tribal members, the U.S. Congress in 1968 enacted a law that essentially applies most of the protections of the Bill of Rights to tribal members, to be enforced mainly by [[tribal court]]s.<ref>Robert J. McCarthy, "Civil Rights in Tribal Courts; The Indian Bill of Rights at 30 Years", 34 ''Idaho Law Review'' 465 (1998).</ref>

The [[Civil Liberties Act of 1988]] was signed into effect by President [[Ronald Reagan]] on August 10, 1988. The act was passed by Congress to issue a public apology for those of Japanese ancestry who [[Internment of Japanese Americans#Hardship and material loss|lost their property and liberty]] due to discriminatory actions by the United States Government during [[Internment of Japanese Americans|the internment period]]. This act also provided many other benefits within various sectors of the government. Within the treasury, it established a civil liberties public education fund. It directed the Attorney General to identify and locate each individual affected by this act and to pay them $20,000 from the Civil Liberties public education fund. It also established a board of directors who is responsible for making disbursements from this fund. Finally, it required that all documents and records that are created or received by the commission be kept by the [[Archivist of the United States]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Foley|first1=Thomas|title=Civil Liberties Act of 1987 – Conference Report|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th-congress/house-bill/442|website=Congress.gov|access-date=2015-06-18|year=1988}}</ref>