Ch. 15 Terms

Prior restraint

Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional

Probable cause

Reasonable grounds for making a search, pressing a charge, etc.

Due Process

Established rules and regulations that restrain government officials

Freedom of Religion

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Free exercise clause

A clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.

Establishment clause

A clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. The supreme Court has interpreted this to forbid governmental support to any or all religions.

Substantive due process

A constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; limits what a government may do

Procedural due process

A constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power

Exclusionary rule

A requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial

Search warrant

A writ issued by a magistrate that authorizes the police to search a particular place or person, specifying the place to be searched and the objects to be seized

Miranda warning

Also referred to as Miranda rights or Miranda rule, 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

14th Amendment

Amendment that granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," which included former slaves recently freed

Good-faith exception

An exception to the exclusionary rule barring the use at trial of evidence obtained pursuant to an unlawful search and seizure

Clear and present danger test

An interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that freedom of expression is so essential to democracy that governments should not punish persons for what they say, only for what they do

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments to the Constitution

Freedom of Expression

Freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers

Self-incrimination

Self-incrimination is the act of exposing oneself (generally, by making a statement) "to an accusation or charge of crime; to involve oneself or another [person] in a criminal prosecution or the danger thereof."

Wall-of-separation

Separation of church and state (sometimes "wall of separation between church and state") is a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson and others expressing an understanding of the intent and function of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

Preferred position doctrine

States that "[f]reedom of press, freedom of speech, [and] freedom of religion are in a preferred position," indicating that certain fundamental human rights have prerogative

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

Lemon Test

The Lemon Test: The three-part test enunciated in Lemon v. Kurtzman which is used to asses whether a law violates the Establishment Clause

Selective Incorporation

The process by which provisions of the Bill of Rights are brought within the scope of the 14th Amendment and so applied to state and local governments

Obscenity

The quality or state of a work that, taken as a whole, appeals to a prurient interest in sex by depicting sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Equal protection of the law

The right of all persons to have the same access to the law and courts, and to be treated equally by the law and courts, both in procedures and in the substance of the law

Unprotected speech

Unprotected speech means speech that is subjected to regulations issued by the government

Libel

Written defamation of another person. For public officials and public figures, the constitutional tests designed to restrict libel actions are especially rigid