LIBERTY

1. Freedom ; exemption from extraneous control. The power of the will, in its moral freedom, 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. 1. “Liberty,” as used in the provision of the fourteenth amendment to the federal constitution, forbidding the states to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, includes, it seems, not merely the right of a person to be free from physical restraint, but to be free in the enjoyment of all his faculties in all lawful ways; to live and work where he will; to earn his livelihood by any lawful calling; to pursue any livelihood or avocation; and for that purpose to enter into all contracts which may be proper, necessary, and essential to carrying out the purposes above mentioned. 2. The word also means a franchise or personal privilege, being some part of the sovereign power, vested in an individual, either by grant or prescription. 3. In a derivative sense, the term denotes 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,” “the northern liberties of Philadelphia.” Civil liberty. The liberty of a member oi 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 Bl. Comm. 125; 8 Steph. 487. The power of doing whatever the laws permit. The greatest amount of absolute liberty which can, in the nature of things, be equally possessed by every citizen in a state. Bouvier. 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. Religious liberty, as defined below. Liberty of speecb. 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. Liberty of tbe 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. The right freely to publish whatever the citizen may please, 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. Liberty of tbe 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 bold 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. Bur lamaqui, c. 3,