Chapter 4: Civil Liberties

the Lemon Test

1. has a legitimate secular purpose; 2. neither advances nor inhibits religion; and, 3. does not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion ... these are the three guidelines of the ________________ ____________

Earl Warren

14th chief justice of the U.S. and led the court through an important liberal phase; previously a republican governor and VP candidate

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States, first elected republican president, served from 1861-1865, led the Union during the Civil War, was assassinated in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth

Espionage Act

1971 law that prohibited urging residents to the draft or distributing antiwar leaflets; upheld by the court in Schenck v. US

bill of rights

3 main reasons for not including a _____________ _____ _____________ in the constitution: 1. it was unnecessary in a constitutional republic founded on the idea of popular sovereignty and inalienable, natural rights 2. having one would be dangerous 3. having one would be impractical to enforce

Eighteenth Amendment

A 1913 amendment that created the nationwide prohibition on alcoholic beverages; it was repealed in 1933.

Gitlow v. New York

A Supreme Court case that extended the First Amendment's protections of freedom of speech and of the press to the state governments.

grand jury

A group of citizens charged with determining whether enough evidence exists for a case to go to trial. Guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment

selective incorporation

A judicial doctrine whereby most but not all of the protections found in the Bill of Rights are made applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment.

Miranda v. Arizona

A landmark Supreme Court ruling holding that the Fifth Amendment requires individuals arrested for a crime to be advised of their right to remain silent and to have counsel present.

Black Lives Matter (BLM)

A recent social movement focused on direct protest and political activism against police brutality, mass incarceration, and related offenses against African Americans.

Occupy Wall Street

A recent social movement that promotes protests and political activism against income inequality and corporate greed

undue burden test

A standard set by the Supreme Court in the Casey case in 1992 that narrowed Roe v. Wade and allowed for greater regulation of abortion by the states.

September 11th

A terrorist plot carried out on _________________, 2001, that used hijacked civilian aircraft to attack the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.

incorporation doctrine

An interpretation of the Constitution that holds that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that state and local governments also guarantee those rights.

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan

Case in which the Supreme Court concluded that "actual malice" must be proven to support a finding of libel against a public figure

Due Process Clause

Clause contained in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments; over the years, it has been construed to guarantee a variety of rights to individuals.

Establishment Clause

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

hate speech

Communication that belittles a person or group on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, or other characteristics.

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

capital cases

Court cases in which a conviction may result in the application of the death penalty.

Bill or Rights

First 10 amendments to the Constitution, which mainly guarantee specific rights and liberties

sedition laws

Laws that make it illegal to speak or write any political criticism that threaten to diminish respect for the government, its laws, or public officials. State sedition laws were overturned as a result of the 1925 Gitlow Supreme Court decision.

first amendment

Part of the Bill of Rights that imposes a number of restrictions on the federal government with respect to civil liberties, including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Fifth Amendment

Part of the Bill of Rights that imposes a number of restrictions on the federal government with respect to the rights of persons suspected of committing a crime. It provides for indictment by a grand jury and protection against self-incrimination, and prevents the national government from denying a person life, liberty, or property without the due process of law. It also prevents the national government from taking property without just compensation.

Ninth Amendment

Part of the Bill of Rights that makes it clear that enumerating rights in the Constitution or Bill of Rights does not mean that others do not exist

Fourth Amendment

Part of the Bill of Rights that protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, houses, papers, and effects without a warrant from a judge among other guarantees

Sixth Amendment

Part of the Bill of Rights that sets out the basic requirements of procedural due process for federal courts to follow in criminal trials. These include speedy and public trials, impartial juries, trials in the state where the crime was committed, notice of the charges, the right to confront and obtain favorable witnesses, and the right to counsel.

double jeopardy clause

Part of the Fifth Amendment that protects individuals from being tried twice for the same offense in the same jurisdiction

writs of habeas corpus

Petition requesting that a judge order authorities to prove that a prisoner is being held lawfully and that allows the prisoner to be freed if the government's case does not persuade the judge. ___________________ ___________________ rights imply that prisoners have a right to know what charges are being made against them.

due process rights

Protections drawn from the Fourth Amendment and the Bill of Rights. ___________ ________________ may be procedural, ensuring fair treatment, or substantive, protecting fundamental rights.

Miranda Rights

Statements required of police that inform a suspect of his or her constitutional rights protected by the Fifth Amendment, including the right to an attorney provided by the court if the suspect cannot afford one.

DC v. Heller

Supreme Court case held that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for traditional lawful purpose (stressed the right to bear arms)

Edwards v. South Carolina

Supreme Court case involving the 1st amendment (stressed the freedom to Petition)

DeJonge v. Oregon

Supreme Court case that applied the First Amendment's protections of freedom of assembly to the states (stressed Freedom of Assembly)

Miller v. California

Supreme Court case that created the "Miller test" to determine when sexually-explicit expression was obscene and therefore beyond the protection of the First Amendment; concluded that lower courts must ask, "whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by state law" and "whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value"

Mapp v. Ohio

Supreme Court decision saying that any evidence obtained without a proper search warrant may not be introduced in a trial (stressed that there will be no unreasonable searches by state governments)

Robinson v. California

Supreme Court ruling regarding the 8th amendment, specifically no cruel and unusual punishment

Schilb v. Kuebel

Supreme Court ruling regarding the 8th amendment, specifically no excessive fines

symbolic speech

Symbols, signs, and other methods of expression generally considered to be protected by the First Amendment.

direct incitement test

Test articulated by the Supreme Court in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) that holds that advocacy of illegal action is protected by the First Amendment unless imminent lawless action is intended and likely to occur.

clear and present danger test

Test articulated by the Supreme Court in Schenck v. U.S. 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 seeks "to prevent"

Warren E. Burger

The 15th Chief Justice of the United States who served from 1969 to 1986 and who led the Court in an increasingly conservative direction

Weeks v. US

The Supreme Court created the exclusionary rule.

McDonald v. City of Chicago

The Supreme Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment applies to the states (stressed the right to bear arms)

Klopfer v. North Carolina

The Supreme Court ruling that the sixth amendment right to a speedy of trial applies in state as well as federal proceedings

New York Times Co. v. US

The case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. government could not block the publication of secret Department of Defense documents illegally furnished to the Times by anti-war activists. Also called the Pentagon Papers case.

Roe v. Wade

The case that legalized abortion

civil rights

The government-protected rights of individuals against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by governments or individuals.

Warren Court

The period in Supreme Court history during which Earl Warren served as Chief Justice (1953-1969), noted for its many rulings expanding civil liberties and civil rights.

Free Exercise Clause

The second clause of the First Amendment; it prohibits the U.S. government from interfering with a citizen's right to practice his or her religion.

Cantwell v. Connecticut

The supreme Court that incorporated the freedom of religion clause in the First Amendment, ruling that it represented a fundamental liberty and was applicable to state governments through due process of the Fourteenth Amendment (stressed freedom of religion)

Military Commissions Act

This act eliminated many due process rights, including the right to challenge "detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of confinement" of detainees. It allowed the government to declare permanent resident aliens to be enemy combatants and enabled the government to jail these people indefinitely without any opportunity to file a writ of habeas corpus

Fundamental Freedoms

Those rights defined by the Court as essential to order, liberty, and justice and therefore entitled to the highest standard of review.

Lemon Test

Three-part test created by the Supreme Court for examining the constitutionality of religious establishment issues.

fighting words

Words that, "by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace." These are not subject to the restrictions of the First Amendment.

"taking the fifth"

__________________ _______ ________________ is shorthand for exercising one's constitutional right not to self-incriminate

bill of attainder

a law declaring an act illegal without a judicial trial

Abolitionist

a supporter, esp. in the early 19th century, of ending slavery

USA Patriot Act

act that enhances the ability of the government to curtail specific search and seizure restrictions in four areas: 1) It allows the government to examine an individual's private records held by third parties. This empowers the FBI to force anyone, including physicians, libraries, bookshops, colleges and universities, and phone and Internet service providers, to turn over all records on a particular individual. 2) It expands the government's right to search private property without notice to the owner. 3) According to the ACLU, the act "expands a narrow exception to the Fourth Amendment that had been created for the collection of foreign intelligence information." 4) The act expands an exception for spying that collects "addressing information" about where and to whom communications are going, as opposed to what is contained in the documents.

PROTECT Act

act that outlawed the sale or transmission of child pornography

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services

allowed states to ban abortions from public hospitals and permitted doctors to test to see if fetuses were viable

Furman v. Georgia

case in which the Supreme Court effectively put an end to capital punishment

Barron v. Baltimore

court case that states that Bill of Rights limited only the actions of the U.S. government and not those of the states

In re Oliver

decision by the United States Supreme Court involving the 6th amendment, specifically public trial

libel

false written statement that defames a person's character

substantive due process

judicial interpretation of the 5th and 14th amendments' due process clauses that protects citizens from arbitrary or unjust state or federal laws

exclusionary rule

judicially created rule that prohibits police from using illegally seized evidence at trial

ex post facto law

law that makes an act punishable as a crime even if the action was legal at the time it was committed

Alien and Sedition Acts

laws passed in 1798 that allowed the imprisonment and deportation of aliens considered dangerous and criminalized false statements against the government

Fourteenth Amendment

one of the three major amendments ratified after the Civil War; it guarantees equal protection & due process of the law to all US citizens

Eigth Amendment

part of the bill of rights that states: "excessive bail shall not be required; nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted"

Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt

supreme court abortion ruling that struck down state law provisions in Texas as presenting an undue burden on women seeking abortions. this decision invalidated numerous state and local laws that imposed similar limitations on clinics.

Chicago, B&O R.R. Co. v. Chicago

supreme court decision addressing the 5th amendment (stressed just compensation)

Malloy v. Hogan

supreme court decision addressing the 5th amendment (stressed self incrimination)

Benton v. Maryland

supreme court decision addressing the 5th amendment, specifically double jeopardy

Duncan v. Louisiana

supreme court ruling regarding the 6th amendment, specifically criminal trial

Near v. Minnesota

the 1931 Supreme Court decision holding that the first amendment protects newspapers from prior restraint (stressed Freedom of the Press)

Washington v. Texas

the Supreme Court decision regarding the 6th amendment, specifically compulsory trial

Gideon v. Wainwright

the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution requires the states to provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants charged with serious offenses who cannot afford lawyers themselves (right to counsel)

Pointer v. Texas

the Supreme Court ruling involving the 6th amendment, specifically confrontation of witness

Parker v. Gladden

the Supreme Court ruling involving the 6th amendment, specifically impartial trial

planned parenthood of southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey

the Supreme Court's decision in this abortion case replaced the strict scrutiny standards of Roe with the less stringent undue burden standard

Tenth Amendment

the final part of the bill of rights that defines the basic principle of American federalism in stating that the powers not delegated to the national government are reserved to the states or to the people

Burger Court

the period in Supreme Court history during which Warren Burger served as Chief Justice

civil liberties

the personal guarantees and freedoms that government usually cannot abridge by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation guarantees of "freedom to" action

Slander

untrue spoken statements that defame the character of a person

1) the person arrested; 2) things in plain view of the accused person; and 3) places or things that the arrested person could touch or reach or that otherwise could easily be in the arrestee's immediate control

without a warrant, searches are limited to...