Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Vocab

strict scrutiny test

(1)Justified by compelling government interest (2)narrowly tailored (3)least restrictive possible

clear and present danger

Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal acts.

black codes

Laws denying most legal rights to newly freed slaves; passed by southern states following the Civil War (ex: literacy to vote---makes it harder for uneducated slaves to read, poll taxes)

bills of attainder

Laws that punish a person without a jury trial

public figures

People who assume roles of prominence in society or thrust themselves to the forefront of public controversy

equality of outcome

The concept that society must ensure that people are equal, and governments must design policies to redistribute wealth and status so that economic and social equality is actually achieved

Miranda rights

(1)The right to remain silent (2)Any statement made may be used against him or her (3)The right to an attorney (4)if the person cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed if he or she desires.

strict scrutiny

A Supreme Court test to see if a law denies equal protection because it does not serve a compelling state interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that goal

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 (a form of protest)

boycott

A group's refusal to have commercial dealings with some organization in protest against its policies

ex post facto laws

A law which punishes people for a crime that was not a crime when it was committed. Congress cannot pass these laws.

affirmative action

A policy in educational admissions or job hiring that gives special attention or compensatory treatment to traditionally disadvantaged groups in an effort to overcome present effects of past discrimination.

exclusionary rule

A rule that provides that otherwise admissible evidence cannot be used in a criminal trial if it was the result of illegal police conduct

Miranda warnings

A series of statements informing criminal suspects, on their arrest, of their constitutional rights (such as the right to remain silent and the right to counsel required by Supreme Court's 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona)

poll tax

A tax on voting abolished by the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964, long used by southern states to keep blacks (and, in some cases, poor whites) from participating in elections.

equality of opportunity

A widely shared American ideal that all people should have the freedom to use whatever talents and wealth they have to reach their fullest potential

good faith exception

An exception to the Supreme Court exclusionary rule, holding that evidence seized on the basis of a mistakenly issued search warrant can be introduced at trial if the mistake was made in good faith, that is, if all the parties involved had reason at the time to believe that the warrant was proper.

Sexism

An ideology based on the belief that one sex is superior to and should dominate the other sex

racism

Belief that one race is superior to another

establishment clause

Clause in the First Amendment that says the government may not establish an official religion.

prior restraint

Constitutional doctrine that prevents the government from prohibiting speech or publication before the fact; generally held to be in violation of the First Amendment.

free-exercise clause

First Amendment requirement that law cannot prevent free exercise of religion

fighting words

Forms of expression that "by their very utterance" can incite violence. These can be regulated by the government but are often difficult to define.

civil rights

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals (Freedom from)

de jure segregation

Racial segregation that is required by law (ex: assignment of blacks and whites to separate schools

de facto segregation

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice (ex: black/white neighborhoods)

Protectionism

The notion that women should be protected from life's cruelties (ended its run as the basis for women's Civil Rights legislation in 1970's)

free-expression clauses

The press and speech clauses of the First Amendment.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States that (a)outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. (b)It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and (c) racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public. Established the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

Equal Rights Amendment

constitutional amendment passed by Congress but never ratified that would have banned discrimination on the basis of gender

14th Amendment

declared that all persons born in the US were citizenship, that all citizens were entilted to equal rights and their rights wer protected by due process ( 1) Citizenship for African Americans, 2) Repeal of 3/5 Compromise, 3) Denial of former confederate officials from holding national or state office, 4) Repudiate (reject) confederate debts )

invidious discrimination

discrimination against persons or groups that works to their harm and is based on animosity (ex: just not hiring a black guy b/c you don't like blacks)

civil liberties

freedoms guaranteed to individuals that restrain government (Freedom of)

Set-asides

government contracting funds which are earmarked for particular kinds of firms, such as small businesses, minority-owned firms, women-owned firms, etc.

Nineteenth Amendment

granted women the right to vote in 1920

civil rights movement

movement in the United States beginning in the 1960s and led primarily by Blacks in an effort to establish the civil rights of individual Black citizens

racial segregation

separation from society because of race

desegregation

the action of incorporating a racial or religious group into a community (re-integrating separated group into society---the opposite of segregation)

separate-but-equal doctrine

the doctrine established by Plessy v Ferguson (1896) that African Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities

obligation of contracts

the obligation of the parties to a contract to carry out its terms