Unit 3: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering constitutional amendments, selective incorporation, civil liberties, civil rights, judicial tests, and major Supreme Court precedents.

Civil Liberties

Constitutionally established guarantees and freedoms that protect citizens, opinions, and property against arbitrary government interference.

Civil Rights

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals based on protected categories such as race, color, sex, creed, and age.

Habeas Corpus

A constitutional provision that ensures no individual is held in detention without formal charges being filed against them.

Ex Post Facto Law

A retroactive rule making an action illegal after it was committed, which is constitutionally prohibited from being applied to people operating before the law was passed.

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Supreme Court decision holding that the Bill of Rights restrained only the national government and did not apply to state governments.

Selective Incorporation

The legal doctrine through which federal courts apply portions of the Bill of Rights to limit state government power on a case-by-case basis using the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

The landmark Supreme Court case that began selective incorporation by ruling that First Amendment guarantees of free speech and free press apply to state governments.

Due Process Clause (14th Amendment)

A constitutional guarantee specifying that no State shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; used by the judiciary to apply Bill of Rights protections to the states.

Equal Protection Clause

The clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibiting states from denying any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Establishment Clause

The First Amendment clause prohibiting Congress from establishing an official religion, mandating a wall of separation keeping government and religious institutions separate and independent.

Free Exercise Clause

The First Amendment provision protecting the freedom to believe in any religion, though certain practices stemming from those beliefs may be legally restricted.

Lemon Test

A three-part standard from Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) assessing government aid to religious entities: it must have a secular legislative purpose, its primary effect must neither advance nor inhibit religion, and it must avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.

Clear and Present Danger Test

The legal doctrine established in Schenck v. U.S. (1919) determining that speech can be restricted if it represents an immediate threat to public order and national security.

Libel

False and malicious written statements that unlawfully harm and damage an individual's reputation.

Slander

False and malicious spoken statements that unlawfully harm and damage an individual's reputation.

Exclusionary Rule

A legal principle incorporated in Mapp v. Ohio (1961) dictating that any evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment cannot be introduced against a defendant in federal or state trials.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

A legal doctrine extending the exclusionary rule to make any secondary evidence inadmissible in court if it was discovered as a result of an illegal search or seizure.

Eminent Domain

The constitutional power of the government under the Fifth Amendment to seize private property for necessary public use, contingent upon providing just compensation and due process.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Supreme Court decision establishing that police must inform detained criminal suspects of their constitutional Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights prior to custodial interrogation.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Supreme Court case that incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, requiring states to provide an attorney to defendants unable to afford one in criminal cases.

Right to Privacy

An implied constitutional right to personal autonomy free from arbitrary government intrusion, recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) as creating 'zones of privacy' through the First, Third, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court ruling that declared racial segregation in public facilities constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment so long as the separate accommodations were substantially equal.

De Jure Segregation

Racial separation that is mandated and enforced by legal statutes, such as Jim Crow legislation in the American South.

De Facto Segregation

Racial segregation that occurs in reality through social, economic, and residential patterns rather than by statutory law.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Major federal legislation enacted under the authority of the interstate commerce clause and Fourteenth Amendment that barred racial discrimination in public accommodations and outlawed employment discrimination.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

An agency created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 tasked with monitoring and enforcing statutory prohibitions against employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, or gender.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Federal legislation that abolished discriminatory voter literacy tests and empowered federal examiners to oversee voter registration in jurisdictions where registration was below $50\%$.

Strict Scrutiny

The highest judicial review standard applied to government classifications based on race, ethnicity, or religion, requiring the law to be the least restrictive means to achieve a compelling governmental goal.

Intermediate (Heightened) Scrutiny

The standard of judicial review applied to gender classifications, requiring the government to prove that the classification meets an important governmental goal.

Reasonable Scrutiny

The lowest tier of judicial review applied to classifications such as age, wealth, and sexual orientation, requiring the government to demonstrate a rational relationship to a legitimate governmental objective.

Title IX

A federal civil rights provision prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education and mandating equal funding and access across all programs in institutions receiving federal funds.

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Supreme Court case ruling that the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses guarantee same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990

Civil rights statute requiring employers and public facilities to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and barring discrimination against them.

Hernandez v. Texas (1954)

Supreme Court ruling establishing that the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause prohibits the systematic exclusion of Mexican Americans or Latinos from trial jury pools.