Blacks Law - 4th Edition
LIBERTY
LIBERTY. Freedom; exemption from extraneous
control.
Freedom from all restraints except such as are justly imposed
by law. Ex parte Kreutzer, 187 Wis. 463, 204 N.W.
595, 604. Freedom from restraint, under conditions essential
to the equal enjoyment of the same right by others; freedom
regulated by law. Kelly v. James, 37 S.D. 272, 157 N.
W. 990, 991. The absence of arbitrary restraint, not immunity
from reasonable regulations and prohibitions imposed in
the interests of the community. Southern Utilities Co. v.
City of Palatka, 86 Fla. 583, 99 So. 236, 240; Nelsen v.
Tilley, 137 Neb. 327, 289 N.W. 388, 392, 126 A.L.R. 729;
Arnold v. Board of Barber Examiners, 45 N.M. 57, 109 P.2d
779, 785.
The power of the will to follow the dictates of its unrestricted
choice, and to direct the external acts of the individual
without restraint, coercion, or control from other
persons. See Booth v. Illinois, 22 S.Ct. 425, 184 U.S. 425,
46 L.Ed. 623; Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. 142, 24 L.Ed. 77;
People v. Warden of City Prison, 51 N.E. 1006, 157 N.Y.
116, 43 L.R.A. 264, 68 Am.St.Rep. 763.
The word "liberty" includes and comprehends all personal
rights and their enjoyment. Rosenblum v. Rosenblum,
42 N.Y.S.2d 626, 630, 181 Misc. 78. It embraces
freedom from duress, In re Miner, D.C.I11., 9 F.Supp. 1, 7:
freedom from governmental interference in exercise of intellect,
in formation of opinions, in the expression of them,
and in action or inaction dictated by judgment, Zavilla v.
Masse, 112 Colo. 183, 147 P.2d 823, 827; freedom from
servitude, imprisonment or restraint, Committee for Industrial
Organization v. Hague, D.C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 131,
141; People v. Wood, 272 N.Y.S. 258, 151 Misc. 66 ; freedom
in enjoyment and use of all of one's powers, faculties
and property, Grosjean v. American Press Co., La., 56 S.Ct.
444, 446, 297 U.S. 233, 80 L.Ed. 660; City of Mt. Vernon
v. Julian, 369 Ill. 447, 17 N.E.2d 52, 55, 119 A.L.R. 747;
freedom of assembly, Rosenblum v. Rosenblum, 42 N.Y.S.
2d 626, 630, 181 Misc. 78; freedom of citizen from banishment,
Committee for Industrial Organization v. Hague, D.
C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 141; freedom of conscience, Gobitis
v. Minersville School Dist., D.C.Pa., 21 F.Supp. 581, 584,
587; freedom of contract, State ex rel. Hamby v. Cummings,
166 Tenn. 460, 63 S.W.2d 515; State v. Henry, 3'7'
N.M. 536, 25 P.2d 204, 90 A.L.R. 805; freedom of locomotion
or movement, Commonwealth v. Doe, 109 Pa.Super.
187, 167 A. 241, 242; Committee for Industrial Organization
v. Hague, D.C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 131, 141 ; freedom of occupation,
Koos v. Saunders, 349 Ill. 442, 182 N.E. 415, 418;
freedom of press, Commonwealth v. Nichols, 301 Mass. 584,
18 N.E.2d 166, 167; Near v. State of Minnesota ex rel.
Olson (Minn.) 51 S.Ct. 625, 628, 283 U.S. 697, 75 L.Ed. 1357:
freedom of religion, Gabrielli v. Knickerbocker, 12 Ca1.2d
85, 82 P.2d 391, 393; Hamilton v. City of Montrose, 109
Colo. 228, 124 P.2d 757, 759; Cantwell v. State of Connecticut,
Conn. , 60 S.Ct. 900, 903, 310 U.S. 296, 84 L.Ed. 1213,
128 A.L.R. 1352 ; freedom of speech, Ghadiali v. Delaware
State Medical Soc., D.C.Del., 28 F.Supp. 841, 844; Carpenters
and Joiners Union of America, Local No. 213, v.
Ritter's Cafe, Tex., 62 S.Ct. 807, 809, 315 U.S. 722, 86 L.Ed.
1143. It also embraces right of self-defense against unlawful
violence, Rohrer v. Milk Control Board, 121 Pa.
Super. 281, 184 A. 133, 136; right to acquire and enjoy
property, Rohrer v. Milk Control Board, 121 Pa.Super. 281,
184 A. 133, 136; right to acquire useful knowledge, Rosenblum
v. Rosenblum, 42 N.Y.S.2d 626, 630, 181 Misc. 78:
right to carry on business, Mile. Reif, Inc., v. Randau, 1
N.Y.S.2d 515, 518, 166 Misc. 247; right to earn livelihood
in any lawful calling. Saidel v. Village of Tupper Lake,
4 N.Y.S.2d 814, 818, 254 App.Div. 22; right to emigrate,
and if a citizen, to return, Committee for Industrial Organization
v. Hague, D.C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 141; right
to engage in a lawful business, to determine the price of
one's labor, and to fix the hours when one's place of business
shall be kept open, State Board of Barber Examiners
v. Cloud, 220 Ind. 552, 44 N.E.2d 972, 980; right to enjoy
to the fullest extent the privileges and immunities given
or assured by law to people living within the country,
McGrew v. Industrial Commission, 96 Utah 203, 85 P.2d
608, 611; right to forswear allegiance and expatriate oneself,
Committee for Industrial Organization v. Hague, D.C.
N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 141; right to freely buy and sell as
others may, Rohrer v. Milk Control Board, 121 Pa.Super.
281, 184 A. 133, 136; right to labor, Simon v. Schwachman,
301 Mass. 573, 18 N.E.2d 1, 3; right to live and work where
one will, People v. Wood, 272 N.Y.S. 258, 151 Misc. 66;
right to marry and have a family, Committee for Industrial
Organization v. Hague, D.C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 141;
Rosenblum v. Rosenblum, 42 N.Y.S.2d 626, 630, 181 Misc.
78; right to pursue chosen calling, State v. Chisesi, 187 La.
675, 175 So. 453; People v. Cohen, 8 N.Y.S.2d 70, 72, 255
App.Div. 485; right to use property according owner's
will, State Bank & Trust Co. v. Village of Wilmette, 358 '
Ill. 311, 193 N.E. 131, 133, 96 A.L.R. 1327.
Liberty, on its positive side, denotes the fullness of individual
existence; on its negative side it denotes the necessary
restraint on all, which is needed to promote the
greatest possible amount of liberty for each. Amos,
Science of Law, p. 90.
The word "liberty" as used in the state and federal Constitutions
means, in a negative sense, freedom from restraint,
but in a positive sense, it involves the idea of freedom
secured by the imposition of restraint, and it is in this
positive sense that the state. in the exercise of its police
powers, promotes the freedom of all by the imposition
upon particular persons of restraints which are deemed
necessary for the general welfare. Fitzsimmons v. New
York State Athletic Commission, Sup., 146 N.Y.S. 117, 121.
"Liberty," in so far as it is noticed by government, is
restraint, rather than license. It is a yielding of the individual
will to that of the many, subject to such constitutional
guarantees or limitations as will preserve those
rights and privileges which are admitted of all men to be
fundamental. "Liberty" in the civil state is a giving up Of
natural right in consideration of equal protection and opportunity.
Weber v. Doust, 84 Wash. 330, 146 P. 623, 625.
The "personal liberty" guaranteed by Const. U. S.
Amend. 13 consists in fhe power of locomotion without imprisonment
or restraint unless by due course of law, except
those restraints imposed to prevent commission of
threatened crime or in punishment of crime committed,
those in punishment of contempts of courts or legislative
bodies or to render their jurisdiction effectual, and those
necessary to enforce the duty citizens owe in defense of
the state to protect community against acts of those who
by reason of mental infirmity are incapable of self-control.
Ex parte Hudgins, 86 W.Va. 526, 103 S.E. 327, 329, 9 A.L.R.
1361.
The "liberty" safeguarded by Fourteenth Amendment is
liberty in a social organization which requires the protection
of law against the evils which menace the health,
safety, morals, and welfare of the people. West Coast
Hotel Co. v. Parrish, Wash., 57 S.Ct. 578, 581, 582, 300 U.S.
379, 81 L.Ed. 703, 108 A.L.R. 1330.
Also, a franchise or personal privilege, being
some part of the sovereign power, vested in an
individual, either by grant or prescription.
The term is used in the expression, rights, liberties, and
franchises, as a word of the same general class and meaning
with those words and privileges. This use of the term
is said to have been strictly conformable to its sense as
used in Magna Charta and in English declarations of
rights, statutes, grants, etc.; Corn. v. Alger, 7 Cush.
(Mass.) 70.
In a derivative sense, the place, district, or
boundaries within which a special franchise is enjoyed,
an immunity claimed, or a jurisdiction exercised.
In this sense, the term is commonly used
in the plural; as the "liberties of the city."
Civil Liberty
The liberty of a member of society, being a
man's natural liberty, so far restrained by human.
laws (and no further) as is necessary and expedient
for the general advantage of the public. 1
El. Comm. 125; 2 Steph. 487
The power of doing whatever the laws permit. 1 Bl.
Comm. 6; Inst. 1, 3, 1. See Dennis v. Moses, 18 Wash. 537,
52 P. 333, 40 L.R.A. 302. The greatest amount of absolute
liberty which can, in the nature of things, be equally possessed
by every citizen in a state. Guarantied protection
against interference with the interests and rights held dear
and important by large classes of civilized men, or by all
the members of a state, together with an effectual share
in the making and administration of the laws, as the best
apparatus to secure that protection. Lieber, Civ.Lib. 24.
Liberty of a Port
In marine insurance. A license or permission
incorporated in a marine policy allowing the vessel
to touch and trade at a designated port other
than the principal port of destination. See Allegre
v. Maryland Ins. Co., 8 Gill & J. (Md.) 200,
29 Am.Dec. 536.
Liberty of Conscience
Liberty for each individual to decide for himself
what is to him religious. Gobitis v. Minersville
School Dist., D.C.Pa., 21 F.Supp. 581, 584. See,
also, Religious Liberty, as defined below.
Liberty of Contract
The ability at will, to make or abstain from making,
a binding obligation enforced by the sanctions
at the law. Judson, Liberty of Contract, Rep.
Am. Bar Ass'n (1891) 233.
The right to contract about one's affairs, including the
right to make contracts of employment, and to obtain the
best terms one can as the result of private bargaining.
Adkins v. Children's Hospital of District of Columbia, 43 S.
Ct. 394, 396, 261 U.S. 525, 67 L.Ed. 785, 24 A.L.R. 1238. It
includes the corresponding right to accept a contract proposed.
St. Louis Southwestern Ry. Co. of Texas v. Griffin,
106 Tex. 477, 171 S.W. 703, 704, L.R.A.1917B, 1108. There
is, however, no absolute freedom of contract. The government
may regulate or forbid any contract reasonably calculated
to affect injuriously public interest. Atlantic Coast
Line R. Co. v. Riverside Mills, 31 S.Ct. 164, 219 U.S. 186,
55 L.Ed. 167, 31 L.R.A.,N.S., 7; Carleton Screw Products
Co. v. Fleming, C.C.A.Minn., 126 F.2d 537, 541. It means
freedom from arbitrary or unreasonable restraint, not immunity
from reasonable regulation to safeguard public
interest, Saucier v. Life & Casualty Ins. Co. of Tennessee,
189 Miss. 693, 198 So. 625, 631; or the right to make contracts
with competent persons on a plane of relative parity
or freedom of choice and within the limits allowed or not
forbidden by law. McGrew v. Industrial Commission, 96
Utah 203, 85 P.2d 608, 612.
Liberty of Speech
Freedom accorded by the constitution or laws
of a state to express opinions and facts by word
of mouth, uncontrolled by any censorship or restrictions
of government.
But language tending to the violation of the rights of
personal security and private property, and toward
breaches of the public peace, is an abuse of the right, State
v. Boyd, 86 N.J.L. 75, 91 A. 586, 587; which is not license,
nor lawlessness, but rather the right to fairly criticize and
comment, State v. Pape, 90 Conn. 98, 96 A. 313, 315. Liberty
never has meant the unrestricted right to say what
one pleases at all times and under all circumstances. Fraina
v. U. S., C.C.A.N.Y., 255 F. 28, 35. It is not an absolute
right. State v. Chaplinsky, 91 N.H. 310, 18 A.2d 754,
760. It has been thought that the liberty to speak includes
the corresponding right to be silent, and that this right is
infringed by a statute compelling a corporation to give a
discharged employee a statement of the cause of discharge.
St. Louis Southwestern Ry. Co. of Texas v. Griffin, 106
Tex. 477, 171 S.W. 703, 705, L.R.A.1917B, 1108. As used in
Constitution, "freedom of speech" means freedom of
speech as it was understood by the common law when the
Constitution was adopted. State v. Boloff, 138 Or. 568, 7
P.2d 775, 781.
Liberty of the Globe
In marine insurance. A license or permission
incorporated in a marine policy authorizing the
vessel to go to any part of the world, instead of
being confined to a particular port of destination.
See Eyre v. Marine Ins. Co., 6 Whart. (Pa.) 254.
Liberty of the Press
The right to print and publish the truth, from
good motives and for justifiable ends. People v.
Croswell, 3 Johns. Cas. 394. Kline v. Robert M.
McBride & Co., 11 N.Y.S.2d 674, 679, 170 Misc. 974.
The right to print without any previous license, subject
to the consequences of the law. 3 Term 431; Respublica
v. Dennie, 4 Yeates, Pa., 267, 2 Am.Dec. 402; Williams
Printing Co. v. Saunders, 113 Va. 156, 73 S.E. 472, Ann.Cas.
1913E, 693. The right to publish whatever one may please.
Knapp v. Post Printing & Publishing Co., 111 Colo. 492,
144 P.2d 981, 985; Howard Sports Daily v. Weller, 179 Md.
355, 18 A.2d 210, 215; and to be protected against any
responsibility for so doing except so far as such publications,
from their .blasphemy, obscenity, or scandalous character,
may be a public offense, or as by their falsehood and
malice they may injuriously affect the standing, reputation,
or pecuniary interests of individuals, Cooley, Const.
Lim. p. 422. It is said to consist in this : "That neither
courts of justice, nor any judges whatever, are authorized
to take notice of writings intended for the press, but are
confined to those which are actually printed." De Lolme,
Eng.Const. 254. Immunity from previous restraints or
[from] censorship. Grosjean v. American Press Co., La.,
297 U.S. 233, 56 S.Ct. 444, 449, 80 L.Ed. 660.
Liberty of the Rules
A privilege to go out of the Fleet and Marshalsea
prisons within certain limits, and there reside.
Abolished by 5 & 6 Vict. c. 22.
Liberty to Hold Pleas
The liberty of having a court of one's own. Thus
certain lords had the privilege of holding pleas
within their own manors.
Natural Liberty
The power of acting as one thinks fit, without
any restraint or control, unless by the law of nature.
1 Bl. Comm. 125.
The right which nature gives to all mankind of disposing
of their persons and property after the manner they judge
most consistent with their happiness, on condition of their
acting within the limits of the law of nature, and so as not
to interfere with an equal exercise of the same rights by
other men. Burlamaqui, c. 3, § 15; 1 Bl.Comm. 125. It is
called by Lieber social liberty, and is defined as the protection
or unrestrained action in as high a degree as the
same claim of protection of each individual admits of.
Personal Liberty
The right or power of locomotion; of changing
situation, or moving one's person to whatsoever
place one's own inclination may direct, without
imprisonment or restraint, unless by due course
of law. 1 Bl. Comm. 134. Civil Rights Cases, 3
S.Ct. 42, 109 U.S. 3, 27 L.Ed. 835; Pinkerton v.
Verberg, 78 Mich. 573, 44 N.W. 579, 7 L.R.A. 507,
18 Am.St.Rep. 473.
Political Liberty
Liberty of the citizen to participate in the operations
of government, and particularly in the
making and administration of the laws.
Religious Liberty
Freedom from dictation, constraint, or control
in matters affecting the conscience, religious beliefs,
and the practice of religion; freedom to entertain
and express any or no system of religious
opinions, and to engage in or refrain from any
form of religious observance or public or private
religious worship, not inconsistent with the peace
and good order of society and the general welfare.
See Frazee's Case, 63 Mich, 396, 30 N.W. 72,
6 Am.St.Rep. 310; State v. White, 64 N.H. 48, 5 A.
828.
LIBERTY. Freedom; exemption from extraneous
control.
Freedom from all restraints except such as are justly imposed
by law. Ex parte Kreutzer, 187 Wis. 463, 204 N.W.
595, 604. Freedom from restraint, under conditions essential
to the equal enjoyment of the same right by others; freedom
regulated by law. Kelly v. James, 37 S.D. 272, 157 N.
W. 990, 991. The absence of arbitrary restraint, not immunity
from reasonable regulations and prohibitions imposed in
the interests of the community. Southern Utilities Co. v.
City of Palatka, 86 Fla. 583, 99 So. 236, 240; Nelsen v.
Tilley, 137 Neb. 327, 289 N.W. 388, 392, 126 A.L.R. 729;
Arnold v. Board of Barber Examiners, 45 N.M. 57, 109 P.2d
779, 785.
The power of the will to follow the dictates of its unrestricted
choice, and to direct the external acts of the individual
without restraint, coercion, or control from other
persons. See Booth v. Illinois, 22 S.Ct. 425, 184 U.S. 425,
46 L.Ed. 623; Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. 142, 24 L.Ed. 77;
People v. Warden of City Prison, 51 N.E. 1006, 157 N.Y.
116, 43 L.R.A. 264, 68 Am.St.Rep. 763.
The word "liberty" includes and comprehends all personal
rights and their enjoyment. Rosenblum v. Rosenblum,
42 N.Y.S.2d 626, 630, 181 Misc. 78. It embraces
freedom from duress, In re Miner, D.C.I11., 9 F.Supp. 1, 7:
freedom from governmental interference in exercise of intellect,
in formation of opinions, in the expression of them,
and in action or inaction dictated by judgment, Zavilla v.
Masse, 112 Colo. 183, 147 P.2d 823, 827; freedom from
servitude, imprisonment or restraint, Committee for Industrial
Organization v. Hague, D.C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 131,
141; People v. Wood, 272 N.Y.S. 258, 151 Misc. 66 ; freedom
in enjoyment and use of all of one's powers, faculties
and property, Grosjean v. American Press Co., La., 56 S.Ct.
444, 446, 297 U.S. 233, 80 L.Ed. 660; City of Mt. Vernon
v. Julian, 369 Ill. 447, 17 N.E.2d 52, 55, 119 A.L.R. 747;
freedom of assembly, Rosenblum v. Rosenblum, 42 N.Y.S.
2d 626, 630, 181 Misc. 78; freedom of citizen from banishment,
Committee for Industrial Organization v. Hague, D.
C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 141; freedom of conscience, Gobitis
v. Minersville School Dist., D.C.Pa., 21 F.Supp. 581, 584,
587; freedom of contract, State ex rel. Hamby v. Cummings,
166 Tenn. 460, 63 S.W.2d 515; State v. Henry, 3'7'
N.M. 536, 25 P.2d 204, 90 A.L.R. 805; freedom of locomotion
or movement, Commonwealth v. Doe, 109 Pa.Super.
187, 167 A. 241, 242; Committee for Industrial Organization
v. Hague, D.C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 131, 141 ; freedom of occupation,
Koos v. Saunders, 349 Ill. 442, 182 N.E. 415, 418;
freedom of press, Commonwealth v. Nichols, 301 Mass. 584,
18 N.E.2d 166, 167; Near v. State of Minnesota ex rel.
Olson (Minn.) 51 S.Ct. 625, 628, 283 U.S. 697, 75 L.Ed. 1357:
freedom of religion, Gabrielli v. Knickerbocker, 12 Ca1.2d
85, 82 P.2d 391, 393; Hamilton v. City of Montrose, 109
Colo. 228, 124 P.2d 757, 759; Cantwell v. State of Connecticut,
Conn. , 60 S.Ct. 900, 903, 310 U.S. 296, 84 L.Ed. 1213,
128 A.L.R. 1352 ; freedom of speech, Ghadiali v. Delaware
State Medical Soc., D.C.Del., 28 F.Supp. 841, 844; Carpenters
and Joiners Union of America, Local No. 213, v.
Ritter's Cafe, Tex., 62 S.Ct. 807, 809, 315 U.S. 722, 86 L.Ed.
1143. It also embraces right of self-defense against unlawful
violence, Rohrer v. Milk Control Board, 121 Pa.
Super. 281, 184 A. 133, 136; right to acquire and enjoy
property, Rohrer v. Milk Control Board, 121 Pa.Super. 281,
184 A. 133, 136; right to acquire useful knowledge, Rosenblum
v. Rosenblum, 42 N.Y.S.2d 626, 630, 181 Misc. 78:
right to carry on business, Mile. Reif, Inc., v. Randau, 1
N.Y.S.2d 515, 518, 166 Misc. 247; right to earn livelihood
in any lawful calling. Saidel v. Village of Tupper Lake,
4 N.Y.S.2d 814, 818, 254 App.Div. 22; right to emigrate,
and if a citizen, to return, Committee for Industrial Organization
v. Hague, D.C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 141; right
to engage in a lawful business, to determine the price of
one's labor, and to fix the hours when one's place of business
shall be kept open, State Board of Barber Examiners
v. Cloud, 220 Ind. 552, 44 N.E.2d 972, 980; right to enjoy
to the fullest extent the privileges and immunities given
or assured by law to people living within the country,
McGrew v. Industrial Commission, 96 Utah 203, 85 P.2d
608, 611; right to forswear allegiance and expatriate oneself,
Committee for Industrial Organization v. Hague, D.C.
N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 141; right to freely buy and sell as
others may, Rohrer v. Milk Control Board, 121 Pa.Super.
281, 184 A. 133, 136; right to labor, Simon v. Schwachman,
301 Mass. 573, 18 N.E.2d 1, 3; right to live and work where
one will, People v. Wood, 272 N.Y.S. 258, 151 Misc. 66;
right to marry and have a family, Committee for Industrial
Organization v. Hague, D.C.N.J., 25 F.Supp. 127, 141;
Rosenblum v. Rosenblum, 42 N.Y.S.2d 626, 630, 181 Misc.
78; right to pursue chosen calling, State v. Chisesi, 187 La.
675, 175 So. 453; People v. Cohen, 8 N.Y.S.2d 70, 72, 255
App.Div. 485; right to use property according owner's
will, State Bank & Trust Co. v. Village of Wilmette, 358 '
Ill. 311, 193 N.E. 131, 133, 96 A.L.R. 1327.
Liberty, on its positive side, denotes the fullness of individual
existence; on its negative side it denotes the necessary
restraint on all, which is needed to promote the
greatest possible amount of liberty for each. Amos,
Science of Law, p. 90.
The word "liberty" as used in the state and federal Constitutions
means, in a negative sense, freedom from restraint,
but in a positive sense, it involves the idea of freedom
secured by the imposition of restraint, and it is in this
positive sense that the state. in the exercise of its police
powers, promotes the freedom of all by the imposition
upon particular persons of restraints which are deemed
necessary for the general welfare. Fitzsimmons v. New
York State Athletic Commission, Sup., 146 N.Y.S. 117, 121.
"Liberty," in so far as it is noticed by government, is
restraint, rather than license. It is a yielding of the individual
will to that of the many, subject to such constitutional
guarantees or limitations as will preserve those
rights and privileges which are admitted of all men to be
fundamental. "Liberty" in the civil state is a giving up Of
natural right in consideration of equal protection and opportunity.
Weber v. Doust, 84 Wash. 330, 146 P. 623, 625.
The "personal liberty" guaranteed by Const. U. S.
Amend. 13 consists in fhe power of locomotion without imprisonment
or restraint unless by due course of law, except
those restraints imposed to prevent commission of
threatened crime or in punishment of crime committed,
those in punishment of contempts of courts or legislative
bodies or to render their jurisdiction effectual, and those
necessary to enforce the duty citizens owe in defense of
the state to protect community against acts of those who
by reason of mental infirmity are incapable of self-control.
Ex parte Hudgins, 86 W.Va. 526, 103 S.E. 327, 329, 9 A.L.R.
1361.
The "liberty" safeguarded by Fourteenth Amendment is
liberty in a social organization which requires the protection
of law against the evils which menace the health,
safety, morals, and welfare of the people. West Coast
Hotel Co. v. Parrish, Wash., 57 S.Ct. 578, 581, 582, 300 U.S.
379, 81 L.Ed. 703, 108 A.L.R. 1330.
Also, a franchise or personal privilege, being
some part of the sovereign power, vested in an
individual, either by grant or prescription.
The term is used in the expression, rights, liberties, and
franchises, as a word of the same general class and meaning
with those words and privileges. This use of the term
is said to have been strictly conformable to its sense as
used in Magna Charta and in English declarations of
rights, statutes, grants, etc.; Corn. v. Alger, 7 Cush.
(Mass.) 70.
In a derivative sense, the place, district, or
boundaries within which a special franchise is enjoyed,
an immunity claimed, or a jurisdiction exercised.
In this sense, the term is commonly used
in the plural; as the "liberties of the city."
Civil Liberty
The liberty of a member of society, being a
man's natural liberty, so far restrained by human.
laws (and no further) as is necessary and expedient
for the general advantage of the public. 1
El. Comm. 125; 2 Steph. 487
The power of doing whatever the laws permit. 1 Bl.
Comm. 6; Inst. 1, 3, 1. See Dennis v. Moses, 18 Wash. 537,
52 P. 333, 40 L.R.A. 302. The greatest amount of absolute
liberty which can, in the nature of things, be equally possessed
by every citizen in a state. Guarantied protection
against interference with the interests and rights held dear
and important by large classes of civilized men, or by all
the members of a state, together with an effectual share
in the making and administration of the laws, as the best
apparatus to secure that protection. Lieber, Civ.Lib. 24.
Liberty of a Port
In marine insurance. A license or permission
incorporated in a marine policy allowing the vessel
to touch and trade at a designated port other
than the principal port of destination. See Allegre
v. Maryland Ins. Co., 8 Gill & J. (Md.) 200,
29 Am.Dec. 536.
Liberty of Conscience
Liberty for each individual to decide for himself
what is to him religious. Gobitis v. Minersville
School Dist., D.C.Pa., 21 F.Supp. 581, 584. See,
also, Religious Liberty, as defined below.
Liberty of Contract
The ability at will, to make or abstain from making,
a binding obligation enforced by the sanctions
at the law. Judson, Liberty of Contract, Rep.
Am. Bar Ass'n (1891) 233.
The right to contract about one's affairs, including the
right to make contracts of employment, and to obtain the
best terms one can as the result of private bargaining.
Adkins v. Children's Hospital of District of Columbia, 43 S.
Ct. 394, 396, 261 U.S. 525, 67 L.Ed. 785, 24 A.L.R. 1238. It
includes the corresponding right to accept a contract proposed.
St. Louis Southwestern Ry. Co. of Texas v. Griffin,
106 Tex. 477, 171 S.W. 703, 704, L.R.A.1917B, 1108. There
is, however, no absolute freedom of contract. The government
may regulate or forbid any contract reasonably calculated
to affect injuriously public interest. Atlantic Coast
Line R. Co. v. Riverside Mills, 31 S.Ct. 164, 219 U.S. 186,
55 L.Ed. 167, 31 L.R.A.,N.S., 7; Carleton Screw Products
Co. v. Fleming, C.C.A.Minn., 126 F.2d 537, 541. It means
freedom from arbitrary or unreasonable restraint, not immunity
from reasonable regulation to safeguard public
interest, Saucier v. Life & Casualty Ins. Co. of Tennessee,
189 Miss. 693, 198 So. 625, 631; or the right to make contracts
with competent persons on a plane of relative parity
or freedom of choice and within the limits allowed or not
forbidden by law. McGrew v. Industrial Commission, 96
Utah 203, 85 P.2d 608, 612.
Liberty of Speech
Freedom accorded by the constitution or laws
of a state to express opinions and facts by word
of mouth, uncontrolled by any censorship or restrictions
of government.
But language tending to the violation of the rights of
personal security and private property, and toward
breaches of the public peace, is an abuse of the right, State
v. Boyd, 86 N.J.L. 75, 91 A. 586, 587; which is not license,
nor lawlessness, but rather the right to fairly criticize and
comment, State v. Pape, 90 Conn. 98, 96 A. 313, 315. Liberty
never has meant the unrestricted right to say what
one pleases at all times and under all circumstances. Fraina
v. U. S., C.C.A.N.Y., 255 F. 28, 35. It is not an absolute
right. State v. Chaplinsky, 91 N.H. 310, 18 A.2d 754,
760. It has been thought that the liberty to speak includes
the corresponding right to be silent, and that this right is
infringed by a statute compelling a corporation to give a
discharged employee a statement of the cause of discharge.
St. Louis Southwestern Ry. Co. of Texas v. Griffin, 106
Tex. 477, 171 S.W. 703, 705, L.R.A.1917B, 1108. As used in
Constitution, "freedom of speech" means freedom of
speech as it was understood by the common law when the
Constitution was adopted. State v. Boloff, 138 Or. 568, 7
P.2d 775, 781.
Liberty of the Globe
In marine insurance. A license or permission
incorporated in a marine policy authorizing the
vessel to go to any part of the world, instead of
being confined to a particular port of destination.
See Eyre v. Marine Ins. Co., 6 Whart. (Pa.) 254.
Liberty of the Press
The right to print and publish the truth, from
good motives and for justifiable ends. People v.
Croswell, 3 Johns. Cas. 394. Kline v. Robert M.
McBride & Co., 11 N.Y.S.2d 674, 679, 170 Misc. 974.
The right to print without any previous license, subject
to the consequences of the law. 3 Term 431; Respublica
v. Dennie, 4 Yeates, Pa., 267, 2 Am.Dec. 402; Williams
Printing Co. v. Saunders, 113 Va. 156, 73 S.E. 472, Ann.Cas.
1913E, 693. The right to publish whatever one may please.
Knapp v. Post Printing & Publishing Co., 111 Colo. 492,
144 P.2d 981, 985; Howard Sports Daily v. Weller, 179 Md.
355, 18 A.2d 210, 215; and to be protected against any
responsibility for so doing except so far as such publications,
from their .blasphemy, obscenity, or scandalous character,
may be a public offense, or as by their falsehood and
malice they may injuriously affect the standing, reputation,
or pecuniary interests of individuals, Cooley, Const.
Lim. p. 422. It is said to consist in this : "That neither
courts of justice, nor any judges whatever, are authorized
to take notice of writings intended for the press, but are
confined to those which are actually printed." De Lolme,
Eng.Const. 254. Immunity from previous restraints or
[from] censorship. Grosjean v. American Press Co., La.,
297 U.S. 233, 56 S.Ct. 444, 449, 80 L.Ed. 660.
Liberty of the Rules
A privilege to go out of the Fleet and Marshalsea
prisons within certain limits, and there reside.
Abolished by 5 & 6 Vict. c. 22.
Liberty to Hold Pleas
The liberty of having a court of one's own. Thus
certain lords had the privilege of holding pleas
within their own manors.
Natural Liberty
The power of acting as one thinks fit, without
any restraint or control, unless by the law of nature.
1 Bl. Comm. 125.
The right which nature gives to all mankind of disposing
of their persons and property after the manner they judge
most consistent with their happiness, on condition of their
acting within the limits of the law of nature, and so as not
to interfere with an equal exercise of the same rights by
other men. Burlamaqui, c. 3, § 15; 1 Bl.Comm. 125. It is
called by Lieber social liberty, and is defined as the protection
or unrestrained action in as high a degree as the
same claim of protection of each individual admits of.
Personal Liberty
The right or power of locomotion; of changing
situation, or moving one's person to whatsoever
place one's own inclination may direct, without
imprisonment or restraint, unless by due course
of law. 1 Bl. Comm. 134. Civil Rights Cases, 3
S.Ct. 42, 109 U.S. 3, 27 L.Ed. 835; Pinkerton v.
Verberg, 78 Mich. 573, 44 N.W. 579, 7 L.R.A. 507,
18 Am.St.Rep. 473.
Political Liberty
Liberty of the citizen to participate in the operations
of government, and particularly in the
making and administration of the laws.
Religious Liberty
Freedom from dictation, constraint, or control
in matters affecting the conscience, religious beliefs,
and the practice of religion; freedom to entertain
and express any or no system of religious
opinions, and to engage in or refrain from any
form of religious observance or public or private
religious worship, not inconsistent with the peace
and good order of society and the general welfare.
See Frazee's Case, 63 Mich, 396, 30 N.W. 72,
6 Am.St.Rep. 310; State v. White, 64 N.H. 48, 5 A.
828.