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civil libertarian

American  

noun

  1. a person who actively supports or works for the protection or expansion of civil liberties.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

I suspect that experience gave her a very strong civil libertarian instinct that manifests here as a deep skepticism towards state power to criminalize gun possession.

From Slate Jul. 24, 2026

“It’s a traditional view, maybe it’s a lingering civil libertarian view that the jury punishes someone not for who they are alleged to be, but what they’ve done in this case,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 25, 2024

The acting secretary of labor, Louis F. Post, was a liberal civil libertarian and a founder of the NAACP.

From Washington Post Nov. 2, 2022

“And because she follows the law unflinchingly, she cannot be pigeonholed. In criminal cases, for example, she is neither a civil libertarian nor a law-and-order hawk; she is a judge.”

From New York Times Sep. 26, 2020

Point Foundation, the inspiration of a wealthy Californian 60s radical named Stewart Brand, was to be a major launch-pad of the civil libertarian effort.

From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Sterling, Bruce

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