Rights, powers, and privileges

[glummer]

Does anyone KNOW if there are/were specific, differentiated, legal meanings for these terms? They all appear in the Constitution, but what is the exact difference among them?

(I’m looking for something pretty solid legally – court decisions, legislative rules, historic usage, etc. Make guesses if you must, but bear in mind that your guesses cut no ice with the courts.)

 

[Sage of Seattle]

Glummer,

IANAL, but according to my copy of Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, there is a little more than one page of text describing what a power is, almost one page of text describing what a privilege is, and two and a half pages' worth of power, so I'm not inclined especially to type it all out for you. All three of these definitions use the other words in their definition; not as synonyms per se, but more as descriptors (if that makes sense).

For example, under the definition of right is the phrase, "A power, privilege, or immunity guaranteed under a constitution, statutes, or decisional laws..."

I would imagine that you'd need to ask a more specific question of how you are needing these definitions especially regarding court cases considering the level of detail the definitions provide.

I hope this helps.

 

[Outlaw Man]

For a short answer,

A right is something that is no-strings attached, like gun ownership, whereas a privalege has stipulations, like driving. As far as the Constitution is concerned, the document grants power to the Federal government as well as enumerating rights and privalages that the Federal government must recognize.

That's about all I remember from my freshman history class.