personal liberty

American  

noun

1. the liberty of an individual to act with free will except for those restraints imposed by law to safeguard the physical, moral, political, and economic welfare of others.

---

Etymology

Origin of personal liberty

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Buzzard was accused of unlawfully violating the personal liberty of Tyler S. Brewer after disclosing sensitive information to him.

From Los Angeles Times

Whereas the previous law considered only “habitually” impaired people to be vulnerable, the updated version includes “any person in a state of infirmity, physical or mental deficiency, or deprivation of personal liberty which, in fact, even occasionally, limits their ability” to resist.

From New York Times

It states that a vulnerable person is “any person in a state of infirmity, physical or mental deficiency, or deprivation of personal liberty which, in fact, even occasionally, limits their ability to understand or to want or otherwise resist the offense.”

From Seattle Times

Members of the loosely organized movement — known online by names such as “SovCit” and “American state nationals” — claim to promote nonviolent resistance to laws infringing on personal liberty.

From Washington Times

The opinion, written by Justice Marshall, declared that the State Constitution protected personal liberty “often more so” than the federal Constitution.

From New York Times