GOV Chapter 3 Vocab and Legal Standards of Review

Civil Liberties

Fundamental Rights and Freedoms protected from infringement by the government.

Civil Rights

Protections from discrimination as a member of a particular group.

Bill of Rights

First 10 Amendments of the Constitution

Due Process Clause

Clause in 14th Amendment; restricts government from denying citizens of their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards

Selective Incoorporation

Process in which Supreme Court has affirmed that almost all the protections in the Bill of Rights also apply to State Governments

Establishment Clause

First Amendment protection against goverrnment 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

Freedom of Expression

A fundamental right affirmed in 1st Amendment to speak, publish, and protest.

Clear and Present Danger Test

Legal standard that speech posing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected by the 1st Amendment.

Prior Restrain

Suppression of material prior to publication on the grounds that it might endanger national security.

Symbolic Speech

Protected expression in the form of images, signs, and other symbols.

Libel

An untrue written statement that injures a person’s reputation.

Slander

A spoken untrue expression that injures a person’s reputation.

Obscenity and (p)ornography

Words, images, or videos, that depict sexual activity in an offensive manner and that lack any artistic merit.

Ex Post Facto Laws

Laws criminalizing conduct that was legal at the time it occurred.

Bill of Attainer

A law passed by congress punishing an individual without a trial.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

A document setting out reasons for an arrest or detentionP

Procedural Due Process

A judicial standard requiring that fairness be applied to all individuals equally.

Warrant

A document issued by a judge authorizing a search

Pobable Clause

Reasonable belief that a crime has been committed or that there is evidence of criminal activity.

Exclusionary Rule

A rule that evidence obtained without a warrant is inadmissible in court.

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.

Double Jeapardy

Protects an individual acquitted of a crime from being charged with the same crime again in the same jurisdiction.

Miranda Rights

The right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning; rights must be given by police to individuals in custody suspected of criminal activity.

Bail

An amount of money posted as a security to allow the charged individual to be freed while awaiting trial.

13th Amendment

An amendment to the Constitution passed in 1865 prohibiting slavery within the United States

14th Amendment

An amendment granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in U.S and placing restrictions on state laws that sought to abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States

Equal Protection Clause

Clause of 14th Amendment that has been used to protect the civil rights of Americans from discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, gender, and other characteristics.

15th Amendment

Grants voting rights to African American men

Separate but Equal

Racial segregation was constitutional so long as the facilities for Blacks and Whites were equal

Legal Segregation

The seperation by law of individuals based on their race

De jure segregation

Separation of individuals based on their characteristics, such as race, by law.

De facto segregation

Separation of individuals based on characteristics that arises not by law but because of other factors, such as residential housing patterns.

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.

Social Movement

Large groups of citizens organizing for political change

Civil Disobedience

The intentional refusal to obey a law to call attention to its injustice

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legislation outlawing racial segregation in schools and public places and authorizing the attorney general to sue individual school districts that failed to desegregate.

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

19th Amendment

Grants women the ability to vote (women’s suffrage)

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

Legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in schools receiving federal aid, which had the impact of increasing female participation in sports programs.

Strict scrutiny

highest standard and is used when a law or action affects fundamental rights or involves suspect classifications like race.

Intermediate scrutiny / Mid-Level Review

cases involving discrimination based on gender or legitimacy, requiring the government to show an important objective.

Rational Basis Test

most lenient standard, where laws only need to be rationally related to a legitimate government interest.

Reverse discrimination Test

claims that affirmative action policies, intended to help minorities, unfairly disadvantage majority group members.