In recent years, the Supreme Court has shown less willingness to bolster individual rights and has even cut back the scope of several previous decisions. Fourth Amendment protections against government searches have been badly eroded, and civil rights laws have been newly interpreted to reduce their strength. Nevertheless, the Court retains the responsibility to ensure that individual rights are protected.

For 130 years after ratification, the most notable thing about the Bill of Rights was its almost total lack of implementation. For example, the right to a free press was frequently breached. In 1798, passage of the Alien and Sedition Act forbade, among other things, publication of any "false, scandalous or malicious writing." In 1859, booksellers in southern states faced arrest for selling Hinton Helper's banned Impending Crisis of the South. And in 1863, the mailing of four New York City newspapers was prohibited because of alleged sedition.

In the early years of the 20th century, civil liberties were in a sorry state. Racial segregation was legal and pervaded all aspects of American society, with lynchings and other racist violence against African Americans occurring frequently. Sex discrimination was firmly institutionalized, denying women the right to vote and prompting their arrest for discussing birth control in public. Employers fired workers for advocating labor unions. The police conducted warrantless searches of criminal suspects and their homes with impunity. The government routinely deported aliens because of their political views.