The Courts and Civil Liberties

Compare and contrast the freedom-of-assembly issues that arise on public versus private property. (8.4)

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.

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. (8.7)

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.

Explain how an American can lose his or her citizenship. (9.1)

Expatriation is the legal process by which a loss of citizenship occurs. This process can only happen if it is voluntarily. Denaturalization process can only occur by court order and only after it has been shown that the person became an American Citizen by fraud or deception.

Identify the freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, including the right to a fair trial by jury. (8.7)

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.

Describe how people become American citizens by birth and naturalization. (9.1)

If a person if born in United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S Virgin Islands, or Northern Mariana Islands; at any U.S embassy or aboard a U.S public vessel anywhere in the world. Or if born off U.S soil both parents are US Citizens and have lived in American territory for some time.

Examine how classification by gender relates to discrimination. (9.3)

Laws that treated men and women differently were intended to protect "the weaker sex," which can lead to discrimination against that sex, most often women.

Define the police power and understand its relationship to the limits of personal rights based on the public good. (8.5)

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.

Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom and guaranteed its free exercise. (8.2)

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.

Describe the right to privacy and its origins in constitutional law, and Supreme Court interpretations of rights guaranteed by the Constitution in selected cases, including Roe v. Wade, explaining the key moral questions relating to the right to privacy and how they have changed over time. (8.6)

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.

Explain the importance of the Equal Protection Clause in safeguarding individual rights. (9.3)

Safeguards individual rights by declaring that "No State shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Evaluate constitutional provisions for limiting the role of government, including those designed to guarantee the security of home and person. (8.6)

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.

Analyze Supreme Court interpretations of rights guaranteed by the Constitution in Schenck v. US and other rulings related to seditious and obscene speech. (8.3)

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.

Outline the history of civil rights legislation from Reconstruction to today? (9.4)

The history of the civil rights laws began in 1857 with the first civil rights act being passed and the voting right acts were passed all the way up until 2006. The people that were fighting for the civil rights were abused by the public. The Title IX of the education amendments of 1972 forbids discrimination on the basis of gender.

Understand the role of limited government in the protection of individual rights, including an understanding of the protections relating to the writ of habeas corpus, bills of attainder, and ex post facto laws. (8.7)

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.

Examine discrimination against women in the past and present. (9.2)

Women had a long fight to gain the right to vote. Today women are still underrepresented in the government and are fighting for equal pay. Women are overrepresented in childcare, registered nurses, bookkeepers, auditing clerks, and dieticians and nutritionists.

Describe the Court's interpretation of cruel and unusual punishment and the history of capital punishment. (8.7)

A convicted murder being put to death by a firing squad or electrocution was found not forbidden by the Constitution. The kind of penalties the Constitution intended to prevent were barbaric such as burning at the stake, crucifixion, drawing and quartering, etc. Capital punishment had been used since colonial times and now States have begun to write their own laws.

Explore the issues surrounding affirmative action (9.4)

Affirmative action is a policy that requires employers to take positive steps to remedy the effects of past discriminations. Making some employers reach a quota of a minority is an example. One issue with this is that it is reverse discrimination, or discrimination against the minority group. Some people say this action affects public education, state employment, and state contracting. People argue that the Constitution requires all public policies be "color blind."

Evaluate how Supreme Court decisions regarding slavery and involuntary servitude have affected specific racial groups, most especially African Americans. (8.6)

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.

Explain how American's commitment to freedom led to the creation of the Bill of Rights. (8.1)

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 the purpose of bail and preventative detention. (8.7)

Bail must bear a reasonable relationship to the seriousness of the crime involved. The purpose of bail is to serve as a post to guarantee the accused will appear in court at the proper time. Bail is used either to not place a person in jail until his or her guilt has been established or because a defendant is better able to prepare for trial outside of jail. Preventative detention is when a federal judge orders that the accused be held, without the option of bail, when there is good reason to believe that he or she will commit another serious crime before trial.

Examine the issues of prior restraint and press confidentiality and describe the limits the Court has placed on the media. (8.3)

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.

Define the crime of treason. (8.7)

Can consist of only two things; (1) levying war against the United States or (2) "adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort"

Summarize Establishment Clause rulings in other areas, such as on seasonal religious displays and public displays of the 10 Commandments. (8.2)

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.

Explain the importance of due process rights to the protection of individual rights and in limiting the powers of government. (8.5)

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.

Analyze the Supreme Court interpretations of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution, including limits on the time, place, and manner of the assembly. (8.4)

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.

Explain how the Supreme Court has interpreted freedom of association. (8.4)

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.

Identify questions surrounding American Citizenship, especially with regard to jus soli and jus sanguinis. (9.1)

Jus Soli is the law of the soil-citizen is determined by place of birth, by where one is born. Jus Sanguinis is the law of the blood, citizenship at birth may also be determined by parentage, to whom one is born.

Understand what it means to live in a heterogeneous society. (9.2)

Living in a heterogeneous society means we are a society of other or different, race, family, or kind. We are a diverse society. We are this because of immigration, etc.

Summarize the history of race-based and gender-based discrimination in the United States. (9.2)

Majority of the race-based discrimination is against African American. The gender-based discrimination is mostly on women. The whole population that is not white males have experienced discrimination through the government and individuals.

Compare and contrast that status of undocumented aliens and legal immigrants. (9.1)

Majority of the undocumented aliens live in larger cities so they can become invisible whereas legal immigrants can live wherever. California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida are most known for illegal documented aliens work. Majority of the legal immigrants only come for a couple of months and then leave but most others hope to remain here in the U.S permanently.

Describe the history of segregation in America. (9.3)

Segregation in America was found in the government, neighborhoods, and even in the public school system. There were many court cases that were fought to stop segregation. Segregation was also found in gender and sexual orientation.

Analyze Supreme Court interpretations of religious rights guaranteed by the Constitution in court cases relating to education, including Engel v Vitale. (8.2)

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."

Evaluate Supreme Court decisions that have affected a particular group, in particular those related to the Free Exercise Clause. (8.2)

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.

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. (8.3)

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.

Analyze the importance of the 1st Amendment rights of petition and assembly. (8.4)

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. Civil Disobedience?

Describe how the 9th Amendment helps protect individual rights. (8.1)

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 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. (8.1)

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.

Understand the Supreme Court's ongoing refinement of the exclusionary rule, including its ruling in Mapp v. Ohio. (8.6)

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.

Analyze the purpose and importance of the 1st Amendment rights of free speech and press. (8.3)

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 intent and application of the 2nd Amendment's protection of the right to keep and bear arms. (8.6)

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.

Describe issues that arise from guarantees of speedy and public trials. (8.7)

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.

Understand that the obligation of citizenship requires that personal desires and interests be subordinated to the public good. (8.1)

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 the meaning of the phrase "separation of church and state." (8.2)

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.

Outline how the right to a grand jury and the protection from double jeopardy safeguard the rights of the accused. (8.7)

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.

Illustrate how the US is a nation of immigrants. (9.1)

U.S is a nation of immigrants because majority of us came from northern and western Europe. We also came over from Africa. The only people that aren't immigrants are native americans.