AP Gov Ch. 5

Living will

A living will, also called a directive to physicians or advance directive, is a document that lets people state their wishes for end-of-life medical care, in case they become unable to communicate their decisions. It has no power after death.

Writs of habeas corpus

A writ of habeas corpus (literally to "produce the body") is a court order to a person (prison warden) or agency (institution) holding someone in custody to deliver the imprisoned individual to the court issuing the order.

Civil Rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations and private individuals, and which ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society and state without discrimination or repression.

Civil Liberties

Civil liberties are personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge, either by law or by judicial interpretation without due process.

Double Jeopardy

Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction.

Fighting Words

Fighting Words. Words which would likely make the person whom they are addressed commit an act of violence. Fighting words are a category of speech that is unprotected by the First Amendment. Chaplinsky v New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942).

Substantive due process

In United States constitutional law, substantive due process is a principle which allows federal courts to protect certain rights deemed fundamental from government interference under the authority of the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, which prohibit the federal and state governments, respectively, from depriving any person of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

Judicial Federalism

Judicial federalism is a theory that the judicial branch has a place in the check and balance system in U.S. federalism.

Prior Restraint

Prior restraint (also referred to as prior censorship or pre-publication censorship) is censorship imposed, usually by a government, on expression before the expression actually takes place.

Selective incorporation

Selective incorporation is a constitutional doctrine that ensures states cannot enact laws that take away the constitutional rights of American citizens that are enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

Symbolic speech

Symbolic speech is a legal term in United States law used to describe actions that purposefully and discernibly convey a particular message or statement to those viewing it.

Clear and present danger doctrine

Test articulated by the Supreme Court in Schenek v US (1919) to draw the line between protected and unprotected speech; The court looks to see "whether the words used..." could "create a clear and present danger that they will bring about substantive evils "that Congress seek" to prevent.

Due Process Clause

The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is exactly like a similar provision in the Fifth Amendment, which only restricts the federal government. It states that no person shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." Usually, "due process" refers to fair procedures.

Establishment Clause

The Establishment Clause is a limitation placed upon the United States Congress preventing it from passing legislation respecting an establishment of religion.

Miranda Rights

The Miranda warning, which can also be referred to as the Miranda rights, is a right to silence warning given by police in the United States to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) before they are interrogated to preserve the admissibility of their statements against them in criminal proceedings.

Exclusionary Rule

The exclusionary rule is a legal principle in the United States, under constitutional law, which holds that evidence collected or analyzed in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights is sometimes inadmissible for a criminal prosecution in a court of law.

Incorporation doctrine

The incorporation doctrine is a constitutional doctrine through which selected provisions of the Bill of Rights are made applicable to the states through the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.