before the fourteenth amendment was added to the constitution the civil liberties section contained in the bill of rights
The Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment. The overwhelming majority of court decisions that define American civil liberties are based on the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments added to the Constitution in 1791.ost Americans think of civil rights and liberties as principles that protect freedoms all the time. However, the truth is that rights listed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are usually competing rights.