First Amendment Freedoms, Equal Protection, and Due Process

Vocabulary flashcards covering First Amendment religion clauses, Equal Protection levels of scrutiny, and Due Process requirements based on the lecture transcript.

Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions

Government regulations that limit the timing, location, or method of speech (such as prohibiting a midnight parade with loudspeakers in a residential area) rather than completely banning it.

Obscenity

A form of unprotected speech that appeals to the prurient interest in sex and lacks societal redeeming value.

Religion

A sincerely held belief that is parallel to the position filled by God in an individual's life.

Establishment Clause

A First Amendment provision preventing the government from creating a national religion and barring the endorsement of religion over nonreligion or one religion over another.

Endorsement of Religion

The unconstitutional promotion by the government of either one religion over another or religion over nonreligion, such as mandating prayer in public schools.

Free Exercise Clause

A First Amendment clause prohibiting the government from preventing individuals from practicing or expressing their religious beliefs.

Santeria

A religious group combining West African beliefs and Catholicism whose practice of animal sacrifice was upheld as legal after a municipality placed licensing and butchering facility obstacles to inhibit their practice.

Incorporation

The constitutional doctrine establishing that state governments must adhere to the protections in the amendments, not just the federal government.

Equal Protection Clause

A constitutional mandate under the Fifth Amendment (for the federal government) and the Fourteenth Amendment (for state governments) prohibiting the government from treating groups of people differently.

Classification

A grouping created by law where people are brought together and treated differently based on a specific characteristic.

Fundamental Rights

Specific rights stated directly in the text of the Constitution or identified in common law by the Supreme Court as originating from the Constitution, such as freedom of religion, the right to marry, and the right to reproduce.

Strict Scrutiny

The most demanding standard of judicial review, applied when a law infringes upon a fundamental right or categorizes by suspect classifications; the law is presumed invalid unless proven necessary to achieve a compelling government objective.

Suspect Classifications

Categories in law that automatically trigger strict scrutiny, consisting of race, national origin, religion, and alienage.

Alienage

A suspect classification based on whether or not an individual is a United States citizen.

Compelling Government Objective

The extremely high legal threshold the government must establish to uphold a law under strict scrutiny, such as national security.

Intermediate Scrutiny

The standard of judicial review applied to protected classes; the challenged law will be upheld only if it is substantially related to a legitimate government interest.

Protected Classes

Categories analyzed under intermediate scrutiny, which include gender, age, sexual orientation, and commercial speech.

Rational Basis Test

The default standard of judicial review applied to any general classification not subject to strict or intermediate scrutiny, under which the law is presumed valid unless it is not rationally related to a legitimate government purpose.

Due Process

A constitutional safeguard governing the conditions and standards under which the government may deprive a person of life, liberty, or property.

Procedural Due Process

The formal procedure or method ('the how') the government must follow before taking away life, liberty, or property, consisting of notice and an opportunity to be heard.

Notice

A procedural due process requirement in which the government must formally inform an individual of what action it is taking and why.

Opportunity to Be Heard

A procedural due process requirement ensuring an individual has the ability to plead their case before a neutral third party, such as a judge.

Balancing Test

A legal assessment used to determine how much procedural process an individual receives by weighing what is being taken away against the government's interest.

Substantive Due Process

The constitutional inquiry examining 'what' the government is taking; triggers strict scrutiny if the government seeks to deprive someone of a fundamental right, and rational basis if it does not.