AP Gov Chapter 8 & 9: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
establishment clause
First Amendment protection against the government requiring citizens to join or support a religion
free exercise clause
First Amendment protection of the rights of individuals to exercise and express their religious beliefs
Nineteenth Amendment
a 1920 constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote
warrant
a document issued by a judge authorizing a search
writ of habeas corpus
a document setting out reasons for an arrest of detention
freedom of expression
a fundamental right affirmed in the First Amendment to speak, publish, and protest
grand jury
a group of citizens who, based on the evidence presented to them, decide whether or not a person should be indicted on criminal charges and subsequently tried in court
procedural due process
a judicial standard requiring that fairness be applied to all individuals equally
bill of attainder
a law passed by Congress punishing an individual without a trial
Bill of Rights
a list of fundamental rights and freedoms that individuals possess. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are referred to as the Bill of Rights
affirmative action
a policy designed to address the consequences of previous discrimination by providing special consideration to individuals based upon their characteristics, such as race or gender
exclusionary rule
a rule that evidence obtained without a warrant is inadmissible in court
de facto segregation
a separation of individuals based on characteristics that arises not by law but because of other factors, such as residential housing patterns
Thirteenth Amendment
an amendment to the Constitution passed in 1865 prohibiting slavery within the United States
Fourteenth Amendment
an amendment to the Constitution passed in 1868 granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and placing restrictions on state laws that sought to abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States
Fifteenth Amendment
an amendment to the Constitution passed in 1870 granting voting rights to African American men
bail
an amount of money posted as a security to allow the charged individual to be freed while awaiting trial
slander
an untrue spoken expression that injures a person's reputation
libel
an untrue written statement that injures a person's reputation
equal protection clause
clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that has been used to protect the civil rights of Americans from discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, gender, and other characteristics
civil liberties
fundamental rights and freedoms protected from infringement by the government
social movement
large groups of citizens organizing for political change
ex post facto laws
laws criminalizing conduct that was legal at the time it occurred
clear and present danger test
legal standard that speech posing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected by the First Amendment
Voting Rights Act of 1965
legislation outlawing literacy tests and authorizing the Justice Department to send federal officers to register voters in uncooperative cities, counties, and states
Civil Rights Act of 1964
legislation outlawing racial segregation in schools and public places and authorizing the attorney general to sure individual school districts that failed to desegregate
Title IX of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972
legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in schools receiving federal aid, which had the impact of increasing female participation in sports programs
symbolic speech
protected expression in the form of images, signs, and other symbols
civil rights
protections from discrimination as a member of a particular group
double jeopardy
protects and individual acquitted of a crime from being charged with the same crime again in the same jurisdiction
probable cause
reasonable belief that a crime has been committed or that there is evidence of criminal activity
due process clause
the clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that restricts state governments from denying citizens their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards
separate but equal
the doctrine that racial segregation was constitutional so long as the facilities or blacks and whites were equal
civil disobedience
the intentional refusal to obey a law to call attention to its injustice
selective incorporation
the piecemeal process through which the Supreme Court has affirmed that almost all of the protections within the Bill of Rights also apply to state governments
Miranda rights
the right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning; these rights must be given by police to individuals suspected of criminal activity
legal segregation
the separation by law of individuals based on their race
de jure segregation
the separation of individuals based on their characteristics such as race, intentionally and by law
prior restraint
the suppression of material prior to publication on the grounds that it might endanger national security
obscenity and pornography
words, images, or videos that depict sexual activity in an offensive manner and that lack any artistic merit