Ap Gov Unit 2 Test: Chapter 4 and 5

First Amendment right: Religion-Federal aid to church schools

1.) Must have a secular legislative purpose. 2.) Have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion. 3.) not foster an excessive government "entanglement" with religion.

First Amendment right: Speech-Obscenity- Miller Test

1.) The work, Taken as a whole, appealed "to prurient interest in sex" 2.) The work shoed "patently offensive" sexual conduct that was specifically defined by an obscenity law. 3.) the work, taken as a whole, lacked "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." ________v. California.

Materials were obscene under the following circumstances:

1.) The work, taken as a whole, appealed "to prurient interest in sex." 2.) The work showed "patently offensive" sexual conduct that was specifically defined by an obscenity law. 3.) the work, taken as a whole, lacked "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value"

Schenk v. The United States

A 1919 decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during world war 1. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear present danger" of substantive evils.

Korematsu v. United States

A 1944 Supreme court decision that upheld as constitutional the internment of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent in encampments during World War 2.

Miller v. California

A 1973 Supreme Court decision that avoided defining obscenity by holding that community standards be used to determined whether material is obscene in terms of appealing to a "prurient interest" and being "patently offensive" and lacking in value.

California Regents v. Bakke

A 1978 Supreme court decision holding that a state university could not admit less qualified individuals solely because of their race.

Texas v. Johnson

A 1989 case in which the Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the american flag on the grounds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the first amendment.

Plea Bargaining

A bargain struck between the defendant's lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchange for the state's promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious (or additional) crime.

6th Amendment

A constitutional amendment designed to protect individuals accused of crimes. It includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy and public trial.

5th Amendment

A constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and punishment without due process of law.

ERA (equal rights amendment)

A constitutional amendment originally introduced to Congress in 1923 and passed by congress in 1972, stating that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." Despite public support, the amendment failed to acquire the necessary support from three-fourths legislatures.

Writ of habeas corpus

A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody.

First Amendment right: Religion-Free exercise Clause

A first amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion.

Coercion

A forced confession introduced in a trial does not automatically taint a conviction. If other evidence is not enough for conviction, then the forced confession is a "harmless error" that does not necessitate a new trial.

1st: press- Prior Restraint

A government preventing material from being published. This is a common method of limiting the press in some nations, but it is usually unconstitutional in the United States. According to the first amendment and as confirmed in the 1931 Supreme court case of Near v. Minnesota

Impartial jury

A jury that is not racially biased.

Voting rights act of 1965

A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundred of thousands of African Americans were registered, and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make "reasonable accommodations" for all people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment.

Affirmative Action

A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged groups.

Buffer zone

A woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy has the right to obtain an abortion; the demonstrators have the right to protest the very existence of the clinic. The courts have acted to restrain these protestors, setting limits on how close they may come to the clinics and upholding damage claims of clients against the protester. Congress passed a law enacting broad new penalties against abortion protestor. It's forbidden to picket in residential neighborhoods.

Search Warrant

A written authorization from a court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching for.

Plessy v. Ferguson

An 1869 supreme court decision that provided a constitutional justification for segregation by ruling that a Louisiana law requiring "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races" was constitutional.

Double Jeopardy

Being tried twice for the same crime.

First Amendment right: Speech-Commercial Speech

Communication in the form of advertising. It can be restricted more than many other types of speech but has been receiving increased protection from the supreme court.

Cruel and unusual punishment

Court sentences prohibited by the Eight amendment. Although the supreme court has ruled that mandatory death sentences for certain offenses are unconstitutional, it has not held that the death penalty itself constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

NY Times v. Sullivan (pentagon papers)

Decided in 1964, this case established the guidelines for determining whether public officials and public figures could win damage suits for libel. To do so, individuals must prove that the defamatory statements were made with actual "malice" and reckless disregard for the truth.

FTC (Federal Trade Commission)

Decides what kids of goods may be advertised on the radio and television and regulates the content of such advertising. Attempts to ensure that advertisers don't make false claims for their products, but "truth" in advertising does not prevent misleading promises.

1st: press- Fair Trials

Defense attorneys argue that such publicity can inflame the community- and potential jurors- against defendants. the trouble is that the Constitution's guarantee of freedom of the press entitles journalists to cover every trial.

Coverture

Deprived married women of any identity separate from that of their husbands; wives could not sign contracts or dispose of property.

Victim impact statements

Detail the character of murder victims and their families' suffering to be used against defended.

Furman v. Georgia

For justices that said the death penalty was not cruel and unusual punishment, yet the court overturned Georgia's death penalty law because its imposition was "freakish" and "random." 35 states passed new laws permitting the death penalty. Some states, to prevent arbitrariness in punishment , went to other extreme, mandating death penalties for some crimes.

Miranda Rights

Guidelines for police questioning that suspects must be told. Established in Miranda v. Arizona.

Death penalty

In Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme court supported the constitutionality of this. "It is an extreme sanction, suitable to the most extreme of crimes."

Strict scrutiny

In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, The court changed it standard for evaluating restrictions on abortion from one of "________" of any restraints on a "fundamental right" to one of "undue burden" that permits considerably more regulation.

Undue burden

In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, The court changed it standard for evaluating restrictions on abortion from one of "strict scrutiny" of any restraints on a "fundamental right" to one of "________" that permits considerably more regulation.

1st: press- Public order

In Schenck v. United States, Justice Holmes declared that government could limit speech if it provokes a clear and present danger of substantive evils. _______ must not be disturbed.

Gender based classification: Medium scrutiny

In the 1976 Supreme court ruling of Craig v. Boren, The court established "_________" standard for determining gender based discrimination.

Craig v Boren

In this 1976 Ruling, the supreme court established the "medium scrutiny" standard for determining gender discrimination: Gender discrimination would be presumed to be neither valid nor invalid.

Immunity

Law officially granted exemption from legal proceedings.

First Amendment right: Speech-Symbolic Speech

Nonverbal communications such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. the supreme court has accorded some protection under the First amendment. Texas v. Johnson.

Unreasonable Search and Seizure

Obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner, a practice prohibited by the fourth amendment. Probable cause and/or a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search for and seizure of incriminating evidence. Mapp v. Ohio

Jury consultants

Often psychologists or other social scientists, develop profiles of jurors likely to be sympathetic or hostile to a defendant.

White primaries

One of the means used to discourage African Americans from voting that permitted political parties in the heavily Democratic south to exclude African Americans from primary elections, thus depriving them of a voice in the real contest.

Due Process Clause

Part of the 14th Amendment guaranteeing that persons cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property by the United states or state governments without due process of law. Gitlow v. New York.

Equal protection clause

Part of the 14th amendment emphasizing that the laws must provide equivalent "protection" to all people.

First Amendment right: Religion-Establishment clause

Part of the First amendment stating that "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"

Single issue voters

People who base their votes on candidates' or parties' positions on one particular issue of public policy, regardless of the candidates' or parties' positions on other issues.

Civil rights

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials

First Amendment right: Speech-Slander

Refers to spoken defamation, where as libel refers to written defamation.

FCC (Federal Communications Commission)

Regulates the content, nature, and very existence of radio and television broadcasting. Restricts the use of obscene words.

De Jure segregation

Segregation by law

De facto segregation

Segregation in reality

Poll tax

Small taxes levied on the right to vote that often fell due at a time of the year when poor African American sharecroppers had the least cash on hard. This method was used by southern states to exclude african Americans from voting. Voided in the Twenty-fourth Amendment.

Barron v. Baltimore

The 1833 Supreme court decision holding that the Bill of Rights restrained only the national government, not the states and cities.

13th Amendment: The case of Dred Scott

The 1857 supreme court decision ruling that a slave who had escaped to a free state enjoyed no rights as a citizen and that congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories.

Gitlow v. New York

The 1925 Supreme court decision holding that freedoms of press and speech are "fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment from impairment by the states" as well as by the federal.

Near v. Minnesota

The 1931 Supreme Court decision holding that the First Amendment protects newspapers from prior restraint.

Brown v. Board of Education

The 1954 Supreme court decision holding that school segregation in Topeka, Kansas, was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. This case marked the end of legal segregation in the United states.

Mapp v. Ohio

The 1961 supreme court decision ruling that the fourth amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures must be extended to the states as well as to the federal governments.

Engel v. Vitale

The 1962 supreme court decision holding that state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York's school children.

Gideon v. Wainwright

The 1963 supreme court decision holding that anyone accused of a felony where imprisonment may be imposed, however poor he of she might be, has a right to a lawyer.

Miranda v. Arizona

The 1966 Supreme Court decision that sets guidelines for police questioning of accused persons to protect them against self-incrimination and punishment without due process of law.

Lemon v. Kurztman

The 1971 supreme court decision that established that aid to church- related schools must (1) have a secular legislative purpose; (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and (3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion.

Roe v. Wade

The 1973 Supreme court decision holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. The decision forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitted the states to limit abortions to protect the mother's health in the second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third trimester.

Gregg v. Georgia

The 1976 Supreme court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, stating "it is an extreme sanction, suitable to the most extreme of crimes." The court did not, therefore, believe that the death sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

14th Amendment

The constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil War that states, "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

15th Amendment

The constitutional amendment adopted in 1870 to extend suffrage to African Americans.

19th Amendment

The constitutional amendment adopted in 1920 that guarantees women the right to vote.

24th Amendment

The constitutional amendment passed in 1964 that declared poll taxes void in federal elections.

13th Amendment

The constitutional amendment ratified after the civil war that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude.

First Amendment (know the four great liberties)

The constitutional amendment that establishes the four great liberties: freedom of the press, of speech, of religion, and of assembly

8th Amendment

The constitutional amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment, although it does not define this phrase. Through the fourteenth amendment, this bill of rights provision applies to the states.

Employment Divison of Oregon v. Smith

The court discarded its previous requirement for compelling interest before a government could even indirectly limit or prohibit religious practices. The state of Oregon was allowed to prosecute persons who used the drug peyote as part of their religious rituals. The court decided that state laws interfering with religious practices but not specifically aimed at religion are constitutional. As long as a law does not single out and ban religious practices because they are engaged in for religious reasons or only because of the religious belief they display, a general law may be applied to conduct even if the conduct is religiously inspired(denying people unemployment compensation is an exception).

Entrapment

The courts overturn crimes based on this. When law enforcement officials encourage persons to commit crimes (such as accepting bribes or purchasing illicit drugs) that they otherwise would not commit.

SCOTUS' role in civil liberties

The final interpreter of the content and scope of our liberties.

Bill of rights

The first 10 Amendments to the US constitution, which define such basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, and press and guarantee defendants' rights.

First Amendment right: Religion-Jefferson's "wall of separation" between church and state

The first amendment foreboded not just favoritism but also any support for religion at al.

Comparable worth

The issue raised when women who hold traditionally female jobs are paid less than men for working jobs requiring comparable skill.

Civil rights act of 1964

The law that made racial discrimination against any group in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbade many forms of job discrimination.

Incorporation Doctrine

The legal concept under which the supreme court has nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the 14th amendment.

Civil Liberties

The legal constitutional protections against government. Although our civil liberties are set down in the bill of rights, the courts, police, and legislatures define their meanings.

Suffrage

The legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth Amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the Twenty-sixth Amendment.

"Right to be left alone"

The most comprehensive of the rights and most valued by civilized men.

First Amendment right: Speech-Libel

The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone's reputation. New York Times b. Sullivan

First Amendment Right: Assembly-Association

The right to associate with people who share a common interest, including an interest in political change. NAACP v. Alabama.

The exclusionary rule

The rule that evidence, no matter how incriminating, cannot be introduce into a trial if it was no constitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure.

Self-incrimination

The situation occurring when an individual is accused of a crime is less compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in court. The fifth amendment prohibits this. Miranda v. Arizona.

Probable Cause

The situation occurring when the police have reason to believe that a person should be arrested. In making the arrest, police are allowed legally to search for and seize incriminating evidence.

Dennis v. US

The supreme Court upheld prison sentences for several Communist Party leaders for conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the government- Even in the absence of evidence that they actually urged people to commit specific acts of violence.

Right to Counsel

The supreme court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright gave any one accused of a felony this sixth amendment right.

NAACP v. Alabama

The supreme court protected the right assemble peaceably in this 1958 case when it decided the NAACP did not have to reveal its membership list and thus subject its members to harassment.

Griswold v. Connecticut

The supreme court wrestled the right to privacy issue. Seven justices finally decided that various portions of the Bill of Rights cast "penumbras"(or shadows)- unstated liberties implied by the explicitly stated rights- protecting the right to privacy, including the right to family planning between husband and wife. Critics claimed that the supreme court was inventing protections not specified by the constitution.

Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act

This act made activities such as obstructing abortion clinics as a federal crime

Where is the right to privacy located in the constitution?

This is a right that is not stated in the constitution or bill of rights.

Implied rights

Unstated liberties derived from the explicitly stated rights. Griswold v. Connecticut.

Grandfather clause

Was used to deny African Americans the right to vote. Oklahoma, and other southern states, exempted African Americans whose grandfathers were allowed to vote from taking literacy tests.

Sexual harassment

__________ that is so pervasive as to crate a hostile environment or abusive work environment is a form of gender discrimination.