Gov Quiz 2

Incorporation

-Application of the rights guaranteed in the Federal Government's Bill of Rights to the state governments -Due process clause of the 14 Amendment legal structure under which incorporation has taken place.

Freedom of the Press

-Basic right guaranteed by the first amendment -Closely related to freedom of speech -Freedom of Press includes all mass media used in communicating news and ideas, not just printing presses.

Freedom of Speech

-Basic right guaranteed by the first amendment. -Speech has been interpreted to include all types of communication of ideas and opinions including films, books, flyers, websites, art, as well as Pure Speech.

Prior Restraint

-Blocking publication or censoring a story before it is published -Supreme Court has generally rejected prior restraint, thus prohibiting government from blocking publication of news stories.

Limitations on Freedom of Speech

-Court has upheld various laws the limit the exercise of free speech -These include libel and slander laws, obscenity laws, and laws against into cement of violence.

NYT v. Sullivan (1964)

-Court held that libel laws cannot be used to inhibit what should be a "robust and wide open" debate on public issues -Court held that the plaintiff must prove the newspaper knowingly or maliciously printed false information in order to obtain damages for libel.

Extending Engel v. Vitale (1962)

-Court ruled Bible reading in public schools was unconstitutional (Abington School District v. Schempp) -In 1985, Court ruled setting aside time for "meditation or voluntary prayer" in public schools was unconstitutional (Wallace v. Jaffree)

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

-Court ruled that First Amendment protected speech that advocated violence and Revolution as long as there was no imminent danger that the speech would incite lawless action. -Overturned Whitney v. California 1927

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeach (1993)

-Court ruled that city ordinances banning animal sacrifice was unconstitutional since they targeted the practices of the Santeria religion

Fourteenth Amendment

-Due process clause extends most rights of the Bill of Rights to the states. -Equal Protection clause provides the basis for ending discrimination against women and minorities.

First Amendment and the States

-First Amendment did not originally apply to state governments, which were not required to recognize the freedoms it embodied. -14th Amendment in 1868 provided legal basis under which the First Amendment was later applied to states

Freedom of Assembly and Petition

-First Amendment guarantees "right of the people peacefully to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" -Grants citizens the right to express their views through petitions, picketing, demonstrations, parades, and marches.

Free Exercise Clause

-First Amendment prohibits government from interfering with a person's right to practice a religion -Protection limited when in conflicts with another right or a compelling state interest.

Establishment Clause

-First Amendment prohibits government from recognizing an official religion or promoting one religion over another. -Referred to as separation of church and state

Limitations of Freedom of Assembly

-Government cannot block peaceful protests but it can enforce restrcitions to protect the rights and safety of others/ -Thus, permits to protest that impose time and place limits are generally required and protest that turn violent are usually broken up by police

First Amendment

-Guarantees most basic rights in democracy: Freedom of speech, press, religion, and assembly. -Part of the Bill of Rights added to the constitution shortly after its ratification.

Sedition

-Incitement to resist lawful authority -Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 were the broadest attempt to limit speech in opposition to government; expired in 1801 before the Court ruled. -Court has upheld sedition laws in wartime but generally not in peacetime.

Civil Liberties

-Rights beloinging to all citizens -Can also be described as limitations on the power of government -Guarenteed by the constitution, federal law, and court decisions.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

-Supreme Court Upheld Schenck's conviction who sent out a flyer urging WWI draftees to protest the draft. -Court held speech was not protected when it constituted "a clear and present danger" to the country in wartime.

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

-Supreme Court applied First Amendment freedom of the press to state governments. -Declared a Minnesota law limiting what newspapers can print unconstitutional. -Rejected the use of Prior Restraint

Miller v. California (1973)

-Supreme Court developed the Miller Test regarding obscenity. -A work is not protected by the first amendment if it's patently offensive as judged by local community standards and is without any serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Reno v. ACLU (1997)

-Supreme Court overruled a law making it a crime to display or distribute "indecent" material on the Internet. -Court cited the right to free expression and criticized the law for being "overly broad and vague"

NYT v. US (1971)

-Supreme Court reaffirmed its position against prior restraint -refused to allow federal government to block publications of the Pentagon Papers, a sensitive internal review of the government's Vietnam War policies.

Edwards v. Aguillard (1967)

-Supreme Court ruled that a Louisiana law requiring public schools that teach evolution to also teach "creation science" promoted a particular religion and violated the Establishment Clause

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

-Supreme Court ruled that a prayer intended to be recited every school day in New York State public schools violated the Establishment Clause and was unconstitutional -Court said prayer in public schools crossed line separating church and state

Burstyn v. Wilson (1952)

-Supreme Court ruled that motion pictures are a medium for communication of ideas and thus protected by the first amendment. -Thus, a state could not ban a movie from being shown simply because it deemed the film "sacrilegious"

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

-Supreme Court ruled the burning of the American Flag was a form of symbolic speech protected by the first amendment. -In anger over the court's decision enacted a federal flag-desecration law, which the court declared unconstitutional in 1990.

Reynolds v. US (1879)

-Supreme Court upheld a federal law prohibiting polygamy even though Reynolds, a Mormon, claimed the law limited his religious freedom

Westside Community Schools v. Mergen (1990)

-Supreme Court upheld federal law that required public schools to give religious groups same access to facilities as other extracurricular groups -No conflict with Establishment Clause if same access provided to all groups.

Selman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)

-Supreme court ruled that publicly funded tuition vouchers could be used at religious schools without violating separation of church and state.

Symbolic Speech

-using actions and symbols to convey a message rather than words (burning a flag, wearing armbands) -Supreme Court ruled symbolic speech is protected under the first amendment.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Supreme Court ruled that Wisconsim could not require Amish parents to send heir children to school beyond the 8th grade because it would violate long held religious beliefs.

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)

Supreme Court ruled that first amendment of free speech did not extend to "fighting words" Words that inflict injury or incite a of peace.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Supreme Court ruled that highs school students wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War was symbolic speech and could not be banned or punished by the school administration.

Incorporation Doctrine

The legal doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court that guarantees most of the Bill of Rights are applicable to State governments through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.