Noun
fundamental individual right protected by law and expressed as immunity from unwarranted governmental interference
one's freedom to exercise one's rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country
Source: WordNetCivil liberty is the status of the man who is guaranteed by law and civil institutions the exclusive employment of all his own powers for his own welfare. William Graham Sumner
The most important civil liberty... is to stay alive and to be free from violence and death... John Howard
And I hear from time to time people say, hey, wait a second, we have civil liberties we have to worry about. But don't forget the most important civil liberty I expect from my government is my right to be kept alive, and that's what we're going to have to do. Mitt Romney
Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing, in its own nature, precarious and dependent on human will and caprice; but it is conformable to the constitution of man, as well as necessary to the well-being of society. Alexander Hamilton
If the true spark of religious and civil liberty be kindled, it will burn. Daniel Webster
The law, which restrains a man from doing mischief to his fellow citizens, though it diminishes the natural, increases the civil liberty of mankind. William Blackstone