Civil liberties and Civil rights
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
A Supreme Court case concerning the mandatory schooling of three Amish students. The state of Wisconsin fined the students' families for refusing to send them to school after the eighth grade; the Amish families argued that higher education conflicted with the free exercise of their religious beliefs. The Court ruled in their favor, holding that the First Amendment's protections for free exercise of religion outweighed the state's interests in compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade.
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
A case contesting a New York state law requiring schoolchildren to recite a nondenominational prayer each morning (although children could choose not to participate). A group of parents sued the state arguing that the law was a violation of the establishment clause; the Supreme Court ruled in their favor, judging that New York state was giving unconstitutional government support to religion by providing the prayer. --> This shows a limitation on state power to allow schools to start the day with a nondenominational prayer.
LGBTQ movement
A civil rights movement which emerged in the 1970s, dedicated to combating legal restrictions on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, and queer citizens on the basis of Fourteenth Amendment protections. Note that some advocate for using alternative acronyms, such as LGBTQIA+ and GSRM.
equal protection clause
A clause of the Fourteenth Amendment stipulating that no state shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The equal protection clause has served as the basis for most legal challenges to discrimination.
due process clause
A clause of the Fourteenth Amendment stipulating that no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." This clause aims to ensure that neither states nor the federal government infringe upon the rights of individuals without following proper legal procedures.
pro-life (anti-abortion) movement
A movement opposed to abortion, led by the National Right to Life Committee, which argues that Fourteenth Amendment protections begin at conception.
Civil Rights Movement (1960s)
A movement, led by both grassroots and national civil rights organizations, to end segregation and other forms of discrimination against African American citizens.
"wall of separation" between church and state
A phrase coined by Thomas Jefferson in an 1802 letter, which described his view that there should be complete separation between the government and religion.
Title IX
A provision of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prevents schools and universities receiving federal funding from discriminating against female students.
exclusionary rule
A requirement that any evidence found during an illegal search or seizure cannot be used to try someone for a crime.
Miranda rule
A requirement that law enforcement officers inform a person subject to an interrogation of their right not to incriminate themselves under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments; created after the decision in Miranda v. Arizona (1966).
Lemon test
A test to determine whether a law violates the establishment clause devised by the Supreme Court in the 1971 case Lemon v. Kurtzman. Based on the Lemon test, laws are constitutional only if they have a legitimate secular purpose, neither advance nor inhibit religion, and do not result in an "excessive government entanglement" with religion.
Pentagon Papers
A top-secret account of US military action in Vietnam, which showed that President Lyndon Johnson had lied to Congress and the public about the extent of the war. Analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times in 1970.
Tenth amendment
All powers not given to the national government or prohibited to the states are reserved to states or to the people
The Court has at times ruled in favor of states' power to restrict individual liberty:
Although the Miranda rule requires police officers to inform someone under arrest of their rights, there is an exception to this rule. The public safety exception allows officers to interrogate a suspect without informing them of their rights if there is an objective need to protect the police or the public from immediate danger. An example of the public safety exception is when the police interrogate a suspect to determine the location of a bomb.
Big Idea: Balancing liberty and order (right to privacy)
Although there's no enumerated "right to privacy" in the Bill of Rights, since the 1960s the Supreme Court has held that several amendments create a "penumbra" of privacy for individuals' private beliefs and conduct. In Roe v. Wade, the Court extended the right of privacy to the decision to have an abortion. The right to privacy is not unlimited, however: the decision in Roe recognized that the government may regulate abortion in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy due to compelling state interests in maternal health and potential life.
public safety exception
An exception to the Miranda rule; it allows the police to perform unwarned interrogation and have the findings stand as direct evidence in court, provided the information relates to public safety.
National Organization for Women (NOW)
An organization founded in 1960 with the goal of advancing the rights of women through legislative and legal challenges to sex discrimination.
Betty Friedan
Author of The Feminine Mystique, a 1963 book that raised concerns about the status of women in society and fueled the women's rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Friedan became the first president of the National Organization for Women.
Big Idea: Balancing liberty and order
Citizens' ability to worship (or not worship) as they please is a fundamental individual liberty. The Supreme Court has upheld some limits to free exercise, however; although individuals may believe whatever they want, the government may limit actions that break secular laws if there is a compelling government interest at stake. Similarly, the Court has permitted some government support for religion, such as public funding for students attending religious schools.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Civil rights activist and religious leader whose nonviolent protests helped bring about desegregation and equal protection legislation for African Americans. He delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
United States v. Lopez (1995)
Commerce clause of Constitution does not give Congress the power to regulate guns near state-operated schools United States v. Lopez (1995) recognized the importance of state sovereignty by placing limits on Congress's power under the commerce clause
First amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
majority-minority districts
Congressional districts with boundaries set so that the majority of voters are from one minority group. The aim of creating districts in this way is to make it easier for citizens of a racial or ethnic minority to elect a representative who reflects their concerns, and to prevent their collective votes from being diluted when spread across several different districts.;
individual liberties
Constitutionally-established rights and freedoms protected by law from interference by the government
"penumbra" of privacy
Derived from the Latin for "partial shadow." The Supreme Court has ruled that several amendments in the Bill of Rights cast a "penumbra" of the right to privacy, although the right to privacy itself is never explicitly named. For example, the Court has interpreted that the Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their houses from unreasonable searches and seizures implies a right to privacy in the home.
Schenck v. United States (1919)
During World War I, socialist antiwar activists Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer mailed 15,000 fliers urging men to resist the military draft. They were arrested under the Espionage Act of 1917, which banned interference with military operations or supporting US enemies during wartime. The resulting Supreme Court case concerned whether the Espionage Act violated freedom of speech. The Court upheld the Espionage Act, ruling that the speech creating a "clear and present danger" was not protected by the First Amendment.
affirmative action
Efforts to improve opportunities for underrepresented or disadvantaged groups, especially in relation to employment or education.
"clear and present danger"
Formulated during the 1919 case Schenck v. United States, the "clear and present danger" test permitted the government to punish speech likely to bring about evils that Congress had a right to prevent, such as stirring up anti-war sentiment. Since the 1960s, the Supreme Court has replaced the "clear and present danger" test with the "direct incitement" test, which says that the government can only restrict speech when it's likely to result in imminent lawless action, such as inciting mob violence.
Thurgood Marshall
Founder and first executive director of the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which pursued a strategy of legal challenges to segregation on the basis of the equal protection clause. Marshall successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) and later became the first African American Supreme Court justice.
prior restraint
Government censorship of free expression by preventing publication or speech before it takes place. The Supreme Court has established a "heavy presumption against prior restraint" (in other words, it is likely the Court will declare an act of the government that blocks free expression unconstitutional).
New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
In 1971, the United States government attempted to restrain the New York Times and the Washington Post from publishing excerpts from the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret history of US military action in Vietnam, based on national security concerns. In the resulting case, the Supreme Court ruled that the government's attempt to bar publication of the Pentagon Papers violated the First Amendment right to freedom of the press, and that publishing a history of the war did not pose an immediate national security threat to American military forces.
Big Idea: The Supreme Court's interpretation of the Second Amendment
In recent decades, states have attempted to pass gun control legislation that would limit an individual's access to guns or to particular types of guns. Between 1791 and 2007, the Supreme Court issued rulings on four cases dealing with the Second Amendment. In both District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Court struck down laws that placed restrictions on gun ownership. The majority in both cases argued that gun control legislation gave the government too much power and violated individual liberties.
The Court's interpretation of the Eighth Amendment:
In recent years, the Supreme Court has seen an increase in cases involving the death penalty, hinging on the question of whether certain uses of capital punishment violated the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court's interpretation of cruel and unusual punishment has changed over time. In some recent cases, it has prevented states from issuing the death penalty to defendants who are minors or defendants who are legally judged to be mentally incompetent.
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
Iowa teenagers Mary Beth Tinker, her brother John, and their friend Christopher Eckhardt were suspended from their public high school for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. In the resulting case, the Supreme Court ruled that the armbands were a form of symbolic speech, which is protected by the First Amendment, and therefore the school had violated the students' First Amendment rights. --> the Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) ruled that symbolic speech is protected by the First Amendment.
Writ of habeas corpus
Latin for "that you have the body." The federal courts in the U.S. system may use the writ of habeas corpus to determine whether a state's detention of a prisoner is legally valid. Such a writ can be used to bring a prisoner or other detainee before the court to determine if that person's imprisonment or detainment is lawful.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Legislation passed by Congress prohibiting segregation of public facilities, as well as discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. The Civil Rights Act also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce these provisions.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Legislation prohibiting racial discrimination in voting, including the use of literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses.
obscenity
Lewd or sexual art or publications. Although the Court has struggled to define what constitutes obscenity, it has upheld restrictions on materials that "to the average person applying contemporary community standards" depict offensive or sexual conduct and lack literary or artistic merit.
time, place, and manner restrictions
Limits to freedom of expression based on when, where, and how individuals or organizations express opinions. For example, a city may require an organization to obtain a permit in order to conduct a public protest.
Case to incorporate freedom of the press
Near v Minnesota (1931)
secular
Nonreligious or unaffiliated with religion.
symbolic speech
Nonverbal forms of speech protected by the First Amendment, such as picketing, wearing armbands, displaying signs, or engaging in acts of symbolic protest such as flag burning.
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Norma McCorvey, called by the alias Jane Roe in the court proceedings, wished to terminate her pregnancy but found she could not do so safely or legally in the state of Texas. In the resulting Supreme Court case, the Court ruled that a woman's decision to have an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy was protected by the constitutional right to privacy which is incorporated to the states, and that it was therefore unconstitutional for a state to criminalize all abortions.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Oliver Brown was the father of Linda, an African American third grader who was forced to attend a segregated elementary school. Along with other African American families in the area, Brown sued the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Under the leadership of future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund sought to prove with this case that segregated public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. In its decision, the Supreme Court agreed, ruling that "in the field of public education, separate but equal has no place." This ruling was a crucial victory for the civil rights movement, and later cases challenging segregation built on the precedent set in Brown.
nondenominational prayer
Prayer that does not advocate the beliefs of a specific religion but that acknowledges the existence of a divine being.
Sixth amendment
Right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to an attorney, and to confront witnesses
Seventh amendment
Right to a trial by jury in civil cases
Fourth amendment
Right to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure
Second amendment
Right to keep and bear arms
Eighth amendment
Right to not face excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual punishment
Third amendment
Right to not quarter (or house) soldiers during time of war
Fifth amendment
Rights in criminal cases, including due process and protection from self-incrimination; no person can be tried for a serious crime without the indictment of a grand jury
selective incorporation
Selective incorporation is the process by which the Constitution effectively inserts parts of the Bill of Rights into state laws and constitutions. In this way, selective incorporation is an implicit, not explicit, process. The Supreme Court decides whether state laws are unconstitutional because they violate the Bill of Rights.
Big Idea:Balancing liberty and order (freedom of the pres)
Since the 1970s, the Supreme Court has bolstered the freedom of the press by establishing a "heavy presumption against prior restraint." But freedom of the press is not absolute; citizens can seek redress if false statements printed about them damage their reputation, and leaking government documents that pose an immediate threat to American military forces is a crime
Balancing public safety and individual protections from unreasonable search and seizure
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the National Security Agency (NSA), along with the FBI and CIA, have increased their efforts to prevent terrorist attacks on US soil. The NSA is responsible for conducting surveillance to protect national security. To do so, they created a database of digital metadata from major phone companies like AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth. This practice came to light in 2013 when former CIA employee Edward Snowden released classified information to the world showing that the NSA had been monitoring the phone calls of leaders of allied nations. Snowden's intelligence sparked a public debate about whether or not this collection of data was an example of unreasonable search and seizure. NSA critics contend that the agency violated the Fourth Amendment because it neither had the appropriate warrants to collect this data, nor had it disclosed the fact it was doing so. The NSA's defenders argue that the agency was doing what was necessary to protect public safety, and that the likely delays associated with getting a court warrant each time the government wants to monitor digital metadata could impede its ability to prevent future terrorist attacks.
Bill of Rights
Ten amendments added to the Constitution to protect individual liberties and rights from government interference
Big Idea: Influence of the composition of the court
The Court's changing composition contributes to its different interpretations of the Constitution over time: for example, the majority of justices on the Warren Court who ruled against segregation in Brown v. Board tended to hold liberal positions and ruled in favor of expanding civil rights, many having been appointed by Democratic presidents. By the time of Shaw v. Reno, eight of nine justices were nominees of Republican presidents. With this more conservative composition, the Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to uphold the rights of the racial majority (white voters) in the case of Shaw.
Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action:
The Court's interpretation of the Constitution has influenced the debate on affirmative action: some justices argue that affirmative action is constitutional, holding that the Constitution only forbids racial classifications designed to harm minorities. Other justices disagree, arguing that affirmative action is unconstitutional because it creates race-based and gender-based classifications, benefitting certain genders and race groups over others. For example, in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Court ruled in favor of affirmative action in circumstances where race was one factor among many considered in admissions decisions, and when the purpose of the school's affirmative action policy was to achieve a diverse student body. But in Gratz v. Bollinger (2003), the Court ruled against affirmative action when it takes the form of points- or quota-based system
The due process clause limits states from infringing individual rights
The Supreme Court has interpreted the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to mean that state governments, in addition to the federal government, may not violate individual rights. For those accused of a crime, states may not infringe an individual's right to counsel, or their protection against warrantless searches. For example, the exclusionary rule stipulates that evidence illegally seized by law enforcement officers searching without a warrant cannot be used against that suspect in criminal prosecution.
Big Idea: Balancing liberty and order (freedom of speech)
The Supreme Court has supported the free speech rights of individuals engaged in protest, including nonverbal "symbolic speech." But freedom of speech is not absolute: the Court has upheld restrictions on defamatory and obscene speech, as well as speech that incites violence or lawbreaking.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
The Supreme Court incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to legal counsel at the state level, ruling that state courts were responsible for providing a lawyer to a defendant who could not afford one.
Big Idea: The Bill of Rights protects individual liberties and rights
The Supreme Court is responsible for hearing cases and interpreting the application of the provisions in the Bill of Rights. Since 1897, the Supreme Court has heard cases on potential state infringement of individual liberties and rights. The Court has found that the Bill of Rights must be upheld, even in states whose constitutions and laws do not protect fundamental liberties as fully as the Bill of Rights. Requiring states to uphold the Bill of Rights is made possible through selective incorporation.
"separate but equal" doctrine
The Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that having separate facilities for black and white citizens was not a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.
defamation
The act of damaging someone's reputation by making false statements. Defamation through a printed medium is called libel, while spoken defamation is called slander.
libel
The act of damaging someone's reputation by printing false statements. Although ordinary citizens can sue for libel based on false statements alone, public persons or officials must also prove that the false statements were made with malicious intent.
the "colorblind" Constitution
The belief that the Constitution protects citizens of all races equally, and that additional measures such as affirmative action are unnecessary.
Balancing public safety and the right to bear arms:
The debate over gun control and gun ownership is a topic of much controversy in the United States today. Some argue that the government should do more to protect public safety and prevent gun violence by passing legislation limiting access to certain weapons and issuing mandatory wait periods. Others argue that the government should not be allowed to infringe on a person's right to own a gun. Although state and local governments have sought to increase gun control legislation in order to protect public safety, the Supreme Court has recently ruled in support of the Second Amendment protection of an individual's right to own guns, striking down gun control legislation in D.C. v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010).
Security and due process are in tension with each other:
The due process clause protects the rights of the accused, but it also makes ensuring national security and public safety more difficult. There are ongoing debates about the extent to which government can monitor private data and communications while still preserving the liberties of citizens against warrantless search and seizure.
Big Idea: Competing policymaking interest (Civil liberties and social movements)
The federal courts cleared the way for civil rights reform through rulings in a series of cases, starting with Brown v. Board of Education, that invalidated segregation as a violation of the equal protection clause. After civil rights demonstrations such as the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, President John F. Kennedy and successor Lyndon B. Johnson made passing civil rights legislation a key part of their agendas. Despite opposition from white southern representatives, Congress followed by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discrimination based on race, sex, and other demographic factors.
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
The first case in which the Second Amendment right to "keep and bear Arms" was incorporated to the states.^22squared The City of Chicago passed a handgun ban in 1982; Chicago resident Otis McDonald filed a lawsuit challenging the ban in 2008 on the basis that he needed a handgun for self-defense. The Court declared the handgun ban unconstitutional by a 5-4 majority, ruling that the Second Amendment right to bear arms for self-defence is fundamental, and therefore incorporated to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause
establishment clause
The first clause of the First Amendment, which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." This prevents the federal government from supporting an official religion and sets the United States apart from many European nations, which provide official government support for a national, or "established," church.
Why do District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010) matter?
The importance of McDonald v. Chicago has to do with the fact that Constitutional rights don't automatically apply to state and local governments. Even though the decision in DC v. Heller had granted individuals the right to own operative handguns in their homes in the District of Columbia, it was the McDonald decision that extended this right to state and local governments. The decision was based on the principle of "selective incorporation" of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
rule of law
The principle that government is based on a body of law applied equally and fairly to every citizen, not on the whims of those in charge, and that no one is above the law—including the government.
right to privacy
The right to "be left alone," or to be free of government scrutiny into one's private beliefs and behavior.
right to an impartial jury
The right to an impartial jury means that the defendant has the right to face a jury that is not likely to have an opinion about the case already formed; protected under the Sixth Amendment.
The right to legal council
The right to have the assistance of a lawyer; protected under the Sixth Amendment.
right to speedy and public trial
The right to speedy and public trial protects a defendant from having a long delay between being arrested and facing trial; protected under the Sixth Amendment.
civil liberties
The rights of citizens to be free FROM undue government interference in their lives, including those rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and those established by long legal precedent (such as the right to marry or travel freely)
civil rights
The rights of citizens to be free of unequal or discriminatory treatment on the basis of race, gender, or membership in a particular demographic group
free exercise clause
The second clause of the First Amendment, which prevents the federal government from interfering with its citizens' religious beliefs and practices. The Supreme Court has upheld some limits on religious practices that conflict with secular laws, such as religious drug use or polygamy.
Ninth amendment
There are other rights besides the ones listed in the Bill of Rights and the federal government cannot violate those rights
Limits on state power:
Using the doctrine of selective incorporation, the Supreme Court has ruled that many provisions of the Bill of Rights apply to the states. This represents a limiting of state power by federal oversight; any state attempt to regulate individual rights could potentially be ruled unconstitutional by the Court.
To incorporate or not to incorporate?
When deciding whether a right is incorporated to the states (and all levels of government), the Court considers whether the right is "implicit in the concept of ordered liberty", or otherwise "fundamental". If the right is fundamental, it applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause. Not every right or provision of the Bill of Rights has been incorporated to the states; including those that have never been challenged in the Supreme Court, and those that the Court has specifically ruled non-fundamental, such as the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy protection.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
Written by Martin Luther King, Jr., while detained in a Birmingham, Alabama jail cell for protesting segregation, this open letter to members of the clergy was published in newspapers throughout the United States. The letter critiqued the idea that civil rights demonstrators should wait until a later time to pursue racial justice and that it was immoral for protesters to break the law. King argued that there are two types of laws—just laws and unjust laws— and that "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
hate speech
Written or spoken communication that belittles a group based on its characteristics, such as race, gender, or sexual orientation.
Total incorporation
a doctrine that applies all the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to the state level without exception; this doctrine has never been adopted by a Supreme Court majority opinion, although several dissenting justices have advocated for it
Fourteenth Amendment
explicitly guarantees certain rights against infringement by states, including citizenship, due process, and equal protection for all citizens; before the Amendment's 1868 adoption, these rights were protected at the Federal level by the Bill of Rights, but not explicitly at the state level The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1868 in response to ongoing discrimination against African Americans in southern states after the Civil War. This amendment incorporated elements of the Bill of Rights, which originally applied only to the actions of the federal government, into the states by barring state governments from infringing upon the rights of citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment also declared that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States . . . are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside," effectively overturning the 1857 ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford that black people were not citizens of the United States.
Big Idea: Supreme Court restrictions and protections of minority rights
he Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution can change over time, as it did between the decisions in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954). In Plessy, the Court ruled that public facilities that were "separate but equal" did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision sanctioned segregation in public places all across the United States. However, in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that race-based school segregation violates the equal protection clause, overturning Plessy. These different interpretations of the constitutionality of segregation show how at times the Court has restricted rights, and at others protected them. For example, Shaw v. Reno (1993) is an example of the Court upholding the rights of the majority, arguably at the expense of minority rights, by placing limits on majority-minority redistricting.
Fundamental rights
rights and immunities protected by the Bill of Rights and interpreted by the Supreme Court as "implicit in the concept of ordered liberty,"^11start superscript, 1, end superscript and therefore protected against state governments in addition to the federal government
Due process
the legal requirement that an individual's rights must be respected by a state or government; protected at the federal level by the Fifth Amendment, and at the state level by the Fourteenth
Incrementalism
the process of incorporating specific rights and provisions of the Bill of Rights to the state level on a case-by-case basis; compare to total incorporation
