chapter 8 civics
Due Process Clause
14th amendment clause stating that no state may deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law
treason
Betrayal of one's country
Free Exercise Clause
A First Amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion.
search warrant
A court order allowing law enforcement officers to search a suspect's home or business and take specific items as evidence
writ of habeas corpus
A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody.
civil disobedience
A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.
grand jury
A group of citizens that decides whether there is sufficient evidence to accuse someone of a crime.
bail
A sum of money used as a security deposit to ensure that an accused person returns for his or her trial
bench trial
A trial in which the judge alone hears the case
Some Supreme Court interpretations of religious rights guaranteed by the Constitution in court cases relating to education, including Engel v. Vitale, are Abington School District v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett. They were protected by Congress say that "The constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that, in this country, it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as part of a religious program carried on by government."
Analyze Supreme Court interpretations of religious rights guaranteed by the Constitution in selected cases relating to education, including Engel v. Vitale.
Government's rules must be content neutral. That is, although government can regulate assemblies on the basis of time, plce, an manner, it cannot regulate gatherings on the basis of what be said there
Analyze Supreme Court interpretations of rights guaranteed by the Constitution, including limits on the time, place, and manner of assembly
The Supreme Court upheld Schneck's conviction of violating the Espionage Act, making it a crime to encourage disloyalty, interfere with the draft, obstruct recruiting, incite insubordination in the armed forces, or hinder the sale of government bonds.
Analyze Supreme Court interpretations of rights guaranteed by the constitution in Schenck v. U.S. and other rulings related to seditious and obscene speech.
The 1st Amendment rights of petition and assembly are important because we have the right to express our views, organize to influence public policy, whether in political parties, interest groups, or other organizations. We also have the right to bring our views to the attention of public officials. This gives us the right only peaceably, The Constitution does not give the right to incite others to violence, block a public street, close a school, or otherwise endanger life, property, or public safety
Analyze the importance of the 1st Amendment rights of petition and assembly.
The intent and application of the 2nd Amendment's protection of the right to keep and bear arms was to protect the concept of the citizen-soldier. The Constitution talks of a well-regulated militia having this right but it also could apply to individuals rights. It recently has been found that the right has been given to law-abiding citizens, keeping a gun for self-defense. Prohibitions to this right are put on felons, the mentally-ill, the carrying of firearms in sensitive places (schools, government buildings), and laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.
Analyze the importance of the 2nd Amendment's protection of the right to keep and bear arms.
The guarantees of free speech and press in the 1st and 14th amendments serve two fundamentally important purposes: 1: to guarantee to each person a right of free expression, in the spoken and the written word, and by all other means of communication; and 2: to guarantee to all persons a wide-ranging discussion of public affairs. Purposes: (1) to guarantee to each person a right to free expression, in the spoken and the written word, and by all other means of communication; and (2) to guarantee to all persons a wide-ranging discussion of public affairs. Important because the American system of government depends on the ability of the people to make sound, reasoned judgments on matters of public concern.
Analyze the purpose and importance of the 1st Amendment rights of free speech and press.
double jeopardy
Being tried twice for the same crime
Establishment Clause
Clause in the First Amendment that says the government may not establish an official religion.
Both almost always involve some degree of conflict. The 1st and 14th amendment rights of assembly and petition do not give people a right to trespass on private property, even to express political views. For public property, as long as the demonstrators act peacefully, they won't be punished with, for example, disorderly conduct.
Compare and contrast the freedom-of-assembly issues that arise on public versus private property.
civil liberties
Constitutional freedoms guaranteed to all citizens
substantive due process
Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; limits what a government may do.
procedural due process
Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power.
Police power is the authority of each State to act to protect and promote the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare. In other words, it is the power of each State to safeguard the well-being of its people. Personal rights are limited by public good in order to promote health, safety, morals, and the general welfare.
Define police power and understand its relationship to the subordination of personal desires and interests to the public good.
Symbolic speech: the expression by conduct; communicating ideas through facial expressions, with body language, or by carrying a sign or wearing an armband. Commercial speech: speech for business purposes; the term refers most often to advertising. Examples of violations are flag burning and the desecration venerated objects.
Define symbolic and commercial speech and describe the limits on their exercise, including Supreme Court interpretations of rights guaranteed by the Constitution in Texas v. Johnson
Both federal and state laws have made the dissemination of obscene material illegal, and the courts have generally agreed that obscenity is not protected by the 1st and 14th amendments
Examine the issues of prior restraint and press confidentiality, and describe the limits the Court has placed on the media.
The Bill of Rights applies to the National government but this does not mean that the states can deny basic rights to the people. The states cannot do so because each of the individual states have their own constitution which contains a bill of rights. The 14th Amendment's Due process Clause says "No State shall...deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due of the process of war. Efforts to extend some of the protects of the Bill of Rights to the States were the guarantee of the separation of church and state found in the 1st Amendment's Establishment Clause and that States should not be allowed to abridge an individual's freedom of speech or right to assemble. The impact of this process increased the scope of fundamental rights and federalism by extending most of the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights to the States.
Describe efforts to extend some of the protections of the Bill of Rights to the States and analyze the impact of that process on the scope of fundamental rights and federalism.
The 9th amendment protects our individual rights through saying there are other rights that may exist that aren't explicitly mentioned. It also states that rights in the Constitution shall not be interpreted to deny others. The 9th amendment is used to stop the government from expanding their power rather than just limiting their power.
Describe how the 9th Amendment helps protect individual rights.
The length of speedy trials differ from case to case, based on the fact that each case must be judged on its own merits. In public trials, spectators may be threatening and there can be too much publicity to where they can't protect the defendant's rights.
Describe issues that arise from guarantees of speedy and public trials.
Right of privacy-"the right to be free, except in very limited circumstances, from unwanted governmental intrusions into one's privacy." The Constitution makes no specific mention of the right of privacy, but the Supreme Court declared its existence in Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965. In Roe, the Court held that the 14th Amendment's right of privacy "encompasses a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy." Over time, the Court has given a State the power to place reasonable limits on a woman's right to have an abortion, but these restrictions cannot impose an "undue burden" on her choice of that procedure.
Describe the right to privacy and its origins in constitutional law and Supreme Court interpretations or rights guaranteed by the Constitution in selected cases, including Roe v. Wade.
Supreme Court decisions that have affected a particular group, in particular those related to the Free Exercise Clause, for example, it has upheld laws that require the vaccination of schoolchildren, laws that forbid the use of poisonous snakes in religious rites, laws that require businesses to be closed on Sundays, and a law requiring religious groups to have a permit to hold a parade on public streets.
Evaluate Supreme Court decisions that have affected a particular group, in particular those related to the Free Exercise Clause
The 3rd and 4th Amendments say that the government cannot violate the home or person of anyone in this country without a just cause. The 3rd Amendment forbids of housing of soldiers in private homes in peacetime. The 4th Amendment forbids search warrants without cause.
Evaluate constitutional provisions for limiting the role of government, including those designed to guarantee the security of home and person.
After the 13th Amendment, declaring that slavery and involuntary servitude was illegal, the Supreme court sharply narrowed the scope of federal authority in several cases. In effect, the Court held that racial discrimination against African Americans by private individuals was allowed. Congress soon repealed most of the civil right laws based on the 13th Amendment. Congress has power to attack "the badges and incidents of slavery," from whatever source they may come.
Evaluate how Supreme Court decisions regarding slavery and involuntary servitude have affected a particular racial group
Every person accused of a crime has the right to the best possible defense that circumstances will allow. In Gideon v Wainwright, 1963, the Court held that an attorney must be furnished to a defendant who cannot afford one.
Examine Supreme Court interpretations in selected cases of the right to an adequate defense and the guarantee against self-incrimination, including Gideon v. Wainwright and Miranda v. Arizona.
Reasons why the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom and guaranteed its free exercise are by making nearly all property of and contributions to religious sects free from federal, State, and local taxation, chaplains serve with each branch of the armed forces, most public officials take an oath of office in the name of God, sessions of Congress, most State legislatures, and many city councils open with prayer, and the nation's anthem and its coins and currency make reference to God.
Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom and guaranteed its free exercise.
American's commitment to freedom led to the creation of the Bill of Rights because the Constitution did not include a general listing of the rights of the people. This omission raised an outcry. Several states ratified the Constitution only with the understanding that a listing or rights would soon be added. These rights were then added; 10 of them, known as the Bill of Rights.
Explain how Americans' commitment to freedom led to the creation of the Bill of Rights.
Fundamentally, the Constitution's guarantee of due process means: In whatever it does, government must act fairly and in accord with established rule. It may not act unfairly, arbitrarily, or unreasonably. This is a key concept of the rule of law, that government is never above the law.
Explain the importance of due process rights to the protection of individual rights and in limiting the powers of government
In a case in 1958, the Supreme Court said, "it is beyond debate that freedom to engage in association for the advancement of beliefs and ideas is an inseparable aspect" of the Constitution guarantees of free expression.
Explore how the Supreme Court has interpreted freedom of association.
Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition; bearing arms; quartering of troops; searches and seizures; criminal proceedings; due process; eminent domain; criminal proceedings; civil trials; punishment for crimes; unenumerated rights; and powers reserved to the States.
Identify the freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, including the right to a fair trial by jury.
The right to a grand jury is intended as a protection against overzealous prosecutors. The 5th Amendment's guarantee against double jeopardy is intended to ensure fair trials in the federal courts and means that no person can be tried twice for the same crime.
Outline how the right to a grand jury and the guarantee against double jeopardy help safeguard the rights of the accused.
picketing
Patrolling of a business site by workers who are on strike
eminent domain
Power of a government to take private property for public use.
Court has faced the question of whether seasonal displays "endorsing Christian doctrine" violate the 1st and 14th Amendments. The court had seeming upheld these displays. In another situation, a Ten Commandments monument located on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin was upheld in court that it did not violate the 1st and 4th amendments. In another case found in Kentucky, it was found unacceptable. As long as the public display is also made up of non religious objects. Displays of 10 Commandments that were added later were merely "a sham," an attempt to mask that unconstitutional religious purpose, while the Supreme Court found that the original displays had a clear religious purpose.
Summarize Establishment Clause rulings in other areas, such as seasonal religious displays, and public displays of the Ten Commandments.
assemble
The 1st and 14th amendments guarantee this right of Americans to or gather, to share their opinions on public matters
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution
process of incorporation
The process of incorporating, or including, most of the guarantees in the Bill of Rights into the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause
The obligation of citizenship requires that personal desires and interests be subordinated to the public good because all persons have the right to do as they please as long as they do not infringe on the rights of others.
Understand that the obligation of citizenship requires that personal desires and interests be subordinated to the public good.
The Exclusionary Rule is: Evidence gained as the result of an illegal act by police cannot be used at the trial of the person from whom it was seized. In Mapp v. Ohio the court held that the 14th Amendment forbids unreasonable searches and seizures by State and local officers just as the 4th Amendment bars such actions by federal officers. It also has been held that the fruits of an unlawful search cannot be used in the State courts, just as they cannot in Federal court. In Mapp, Cleveland police entered a home forcibly and without a warrant. The evidence they were looking for did not turn up but they did then find some "dirty books," convicting Mapp of another, unrelated crime. Mapp was then convicted and sentenced to jail. The Court then overturned the conviction, holding the exclusionary rule. Critics say criminals who are clearly guilty go free, so the Court has gradually narrowed the scope of the rule over the years.
Understand the Supreme Court's ongoing refinement of the exclusionary rule, including its ruling in Mapp v. Ohio.
The phrase "separation of church and state" means that the operation and formal institutions of Church and government are constitutionally separated in this country, but they are neither enemies nor even strangers to one another.
Understand the meaning of the phrase "separation of church and state."
The writ of habeas corpus is a court order commanding an officer, holding a prisoner, to bring them before a court and state why the prisoner should not be released. The ban of on bill of attainder, the punishment of a person without a court trial, means they can't pass a law that declares a person or group guilty of a crime and provides for his or their punishment. An ex post facto law is a criminal law-defining a crime or punishment; applies to an act committed before its passage; and works to the disadvantage of the accused.
Understand the role of limited government in the protection of individual rights, including protections relating to the writ of habeas corpus, bills of attainder, and ex post facto laws.
alien
a citizen of another country; foreign, strange
presentment
a formal accusation brought by the grand jury on its own motion, rather than that of the prosecutor
petition
a formal request
ex post facto law
a law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed
bill of attainder
a law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court
preventive detention
a law which allows federal judges to order that an accused felon be held, without bail, when there is good reason to believe that he or she will commit yet another serious crime before trial
shield law
a law which gives reporters some protection against having to disclose their sources or reveal other confidential information in legal proceedings
symbolic speech
an act that conveys a political message
injunction
an authoritative command or order
capital punishment
death penalty
information
facts provided or learned about something or someone.
due process
following established legal procedures
involuntary servitude
forced labor
prior restraint
government censorship of information before it is published or broadcast
exclusionary rule
improperly gathered evidence may not be introduced in a criminal trial
writs of assistance
legal document that enabled officers to search homes and warehouses for goods that might be smuggled
parochial
local; narrow; limited
probable cause
reasonable cause for issuing a search warrant or making an arrest; more than mere suspicion
sedition
rebellion or resistance against the government
seditious speech
speech urging resistance to lawful authority or advocating the overthrow of the government
police power
state power to enact laws promoting health, safety, and morals
indictment
the act of accusing; a formal accusation
Miranda rule
the constitutional rights which police must read to a suspect before questioning can occur
slander
the crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.
content neutral
the government may not regulate assemblies on the basis on what might be said
right of association
the right to associate with others to promote political, economic, and other social causes
civil rights
the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality.
discrimination
unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members
libel
written defamation
