Government in America Chapters 4 & 5: Civil Rights & Liberties

Adarand Constructors v Pena (1995)

. A 1995 Supreme Court decision holding that the federal programs that classify people by race, even for an ostensibly benign purpose such as expanding opportunities for minorities, should be presumed as unconstitutional.

Korematsu v United States (1944)

A 1944 Supreme Court decision that upheld as constitutional the internment of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent and enchantments during World War II

School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v Schempp

A 1963 Supreme Court decision holding that a Pennsylvania law requiring Bible reading in schools violated The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A 1965 law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans were registered and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically. Encouraged greater social equality and decreased the wealth and education gap

Woodson v North Carolina (1972)

A 1972 Supreme Court case in which the mandatory sentence of death penalty for certain crimes was rejected.

Hamdan v Rumsfeld (2006)

A 2006 case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay lack "the power to proceed because its structures and procedures violate both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the four Geneva Conventions signed in 1949. Specifically, the ruling says that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions was violated.

Boumediene v Bush (2008)

A 2008 Supreme Court case holding that the prisoners had a right to the habeas corpus under the United States Constitution and that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was an unconstitutional suspension of that right.

Seventh Amendment

A Constitutional Amendment that states in suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. (not selectively incorporated)

Free Exercise Clause

A First Amendment provision that prohibits government from the interfering with the practice of religion.

Planned Parenthood v Casey (1992)

A Pennsylvania law that required spousal awareness prior to obtaining an abortion was invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment because it created an undue burden on married women seeking an abortion. Requirements for parental consent, informed consent, and 24-hour waiting period were constitutionally valid regulations.

Lawrence v Texas (2003)

A Texas law classifying consensual, adult homosexual intercourse as illegal sodomy violated the privacy and liberty of adults to engage in private intimate conduct under the 14th Amendment.

Webster v Reproductive Health Services (1989)

A United States Supreme Court decision on upholding a Missouri law that imposed restrictions on the use of state funds, facilities, and employees in performing, assisting with, or counseling on abortions. The Supreme Court in Webster allowed for states to legislate in an aspect that had previously been thought to be forbidden under Roe v. Wade

Furman v Georgia (1972)

A United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was decided in 1976.

plea bargaining

A bargain struck between the defendant's lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect the defendant will plead 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.

Atkins v Virginia (2002)

A case in which the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that executing people with intellectual disabilities violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishments, but states can define who has intellectual disability

Sixth 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.

Equal Rights Amendment

A constitutional amendment originally introduced in 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 for sort of the three fourths of State legislation required for Passage.

Fourth Amendment

A constitutional amendment that protects the rights of people from unreasonable search and seizure.

Ninth Amendment

A constitutional amendment that states "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Provides for the creation of found rights by the Supreme Court.

Griswold v Connecticut (1965)

A landmark case in the United States in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution protected a right to privacy.

Roper v Simmons (2005)

A landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that it is unconstitutional to impose capital punishment for crimes committed while under the age of 18.

Americans with Disability Act of 1990

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

Gratz v Bollinger (2003)

A state university's admission policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because its ranking system gave an automatic point increase to all racial minorities rather than making individual determinations.

search warrant

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

Regents of the University of California v Bakke (1978)

Calendar 1978 Supreme Court decision holding that a State University could weigh race or ethnic background as one element in admissions but could not set aside places for members of a particular racial groups.

Privileges and Immunities Clause

Clause in Article 4 and a right guaranteed in Amendment 14 that citizens of each state must receive privileges and immunities of any other state in which they are in-prohibits states from discriminating against citizens of other states (some exceptions)

Cruel and unusual punishment

Court sentences prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that mandatory death sentences for certain offenses are unconstitutional, it has not how about the death penalty itself constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Brown v Board of Education (1955)

In 1955, the Supreme Court considered arguments by the schools requesting relief concerning the task of desegregation. In their decision, which became known as "Brown II" the court delegated the task of carrying out school desegregation to district courts with orders that desegregation occur "with all deliberate speed,"

Craig v Boren (1976)

In this 1976 ruling, the Supreme Court establish the intermediate scrutiny standard for determining gender discrimination.

Symbolic speech

Nonverbal communication, such as the burning of a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the First Amendment.

Freedom of Expression Clause

Part of the First Amendment protecting freedom of speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.

Due Process Clause

Part of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing that persons cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property by the United States or state governments without due process of law.

white primary

Primary elections from which African Americans were excluded, and exclusion that, in the heavily Democratic South, deprived African Americans of a voice in the real contests. The Supreme Court declared white primary unconstitutional in 1944.

gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Title IX

Provision of the Educational Amendments of 1972 that bars educational institutions receiving federal funds from discriminating against female student via cross-cutting requirements.

Windsor v US (2013)

Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which federally defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause's guarantee of equal protection. The federal government must recognize same-sex marriages that have been approved by the states.

segregation de facto

Segregation by custom and practice.

segregation de jure

Segregation by law; established by most Southern states during the Jim Crow period. Included race-neutral and race-targeting laws.

poll taxes

Small tax is levied on the right to vote. This method was used by most southern states to exclude African Americans from voting.

Barron v Baltimore (1833)

The 1833 Supreme Court decision holding up the Bill of Rights restraint only the national government, not the states and cities.

Scott v Sanford (1857)

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 authority to ban slavery in the territories.

Gitlow v New York (1925)

The 1925 Supreme Court decision holding that freedom 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 government.

Hernandez v Texas (1954)

The 1954 Supreme Court decision that extended protection against discrimination Hispanics.

Engle v Vitale (1962)

The 1962 Supreme Court decision holding that state officials violated the first amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York school children.

Gideon v Wainwright (1963)

The 1963 Supreme Court decision holding that anyone accused of a felony where imprisonment may be imposed, however for he or she might be, has a right to a lawyer.

Miranda v Arizona (1966)

The 1966 Supreme Court decision that sets guidelines for police questioning of accused persons to protect them against self-incrimination and to protect their right to counsel.

Gregg v Georgia (1976)

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.

Zelman v Simmons Harris (2002)

The 2002 Supreme Court decision that upheld a state program providing families with vouchers that could be used to pay for tuition at religious schools.

Fourteenth Amendment

The Constitutional Amendment adopted after the Civil War that declares 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, our property, without due process of law nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws

Nineteenth Amendment

The Constitutional Amendment adopted in 1920 that guarantees women the right to vote.

Thirteenth Amendment

The Constitutional Amendment ratified after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude.

Eighth Amendment

The Constitutional Amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment, although it does not define this phrase. Do the 14th Amendment, this provision applies to the states.

Loving v Virginia (1967)

The Court declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, the "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, as a violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

Tinker v Des Moines (1969)

The First Amendment, as applied through the Fourteenth, did not permit a public school to punish a student for wearing a black armband as an anti-war protest, absent any evidence that the rule was necessary to avoid substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others.

Obergefell v Hodges (2015)

The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State.

Reed v Reed (1971)

The Landmark case in 1971 for which the Supreme Court for the first time I've held a claim of gender discrimination.

Plessy v Ferguson (1896)

The Supreme Court decision held that the "separate but equal" provision of private services mandated by state government is constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause.

McDonald v Chicago (2010)

The Supreme Court decision held that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms" protected by the Second Amendment is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and applies to the states.

District of Columbia v Heller (2008)

The Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to federal enclaves and protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

NAACP V Alabama (1958)

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

Selective incorporation

The case-by-case process by which liberties listed in the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states using the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Established in the case Gitlow v New York.

First Amendment

The constitutional amendment that establishes the five great liberties: freedom of the press, of speech, of religion, to petition, and of assembly.

Roe v Wade (1973)

The court legalized abortion. Based on 4th Amendment rights of a person to be secure in their persons. Gave woman's right to choose. Protected woman's privacy on reproductive issues established national abortion guidelines based on trimesters; 1st no state interference, 2nd state may regulate to protect health of mother; 3rd state may regulate to protect health of unborn child.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution comma which defines such basic Liberties is freedom of religion, speech, and press and guarantee defendants rights.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The law making racial discrimination in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbidding 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 Fourteenth Amendment.

Civil Liberties

The legal constitutional protections against government. Although our civil liberties are formally sit down in the Bill of Rights, the courts, police, and legislators to find their meeting.

Universal incorporation

The process by which the entire Bill of Rights was to be applied to the states using the Due Process Clause; rejected by the Supreme Court.

Fischer v UT Austin (2016)

The race-conscious admissions program in use at the time of petitioner's application is lawful under the Equal Protection Clause.

Self incrimination

The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in court. The Fifth Amendment forbids involuntary self-incrimination.

Double Jeopardy

Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the Constitution.

Grutter v Bollinger (2003)

University of Michigan Law School admissions program that gave special consideration for being a certain racial minority did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

Schenck v United States (1919)

a 1919 decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during World War One. Justice Holmes to clear that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a clear and present danger of substantial evils.

Roth v United States (1957)

a 1957 Supreme Court decision ruling that obscenity is not within the area of constitutionally protected speech or press.

Miller v California (1973)

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

Texas v Johnson (1989)

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

Fifth 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.

affirmative action

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

Establishment Clause

part of the First Amendment stating that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

Equal Protection Clause

part of the Fourteenth Amendment emphasizing that the laws must provide equivalent protection to all people.

civil rights

policy designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals.

Brown v Board of Education (1954)

the 1954 Supreme Court decision holding that school segregation was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the fourteenth amendment's guarantee of equal protection. This case

Mapp v Ohio (1961)

the 1961 Supreme Court decision ruling that the fourth amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures must be extended to the states

Lemon v Kurtzman (1971)

the 1971 Supreme Court decision that established that ages Church related schools must have a secular legislative purpose have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion and not Foster excessive government entanglement with religion

McCleskey v Kemp (1987)

the 1987 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty against charges that it violated the 14th Amendment because minority

Fifteenth Amendment

the Constitutional Amendment adopted in 1870 to extend suffrage to African Americans.

Twenty-fourth Amendment

the Constitutional Amendment passed in 1964 that declared poll taxes void in federal elections.

Reverse incorporation

the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has been held to apply to the federal government through the Due Process Clause located in the Fifth Amendment; established in Bolling v Sharpe.

suffrage

the legal right to vote, extended to African Americans by the 15th Amendment, to women by the 19th Amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the 26th amendment.

reverse discrimination

the practice or policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously over those of the majority.

right to privacy

the right to a private personal life free from intrusion of the government

exclusionary rule

the rule that evidence cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits the use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure.

probable cause

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