Abernathy/Waples, American Government: Stories of a Nation, Presidential Election Update 1E - Chapter 8

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

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.

due process clause

the clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that restricts state governments from denying their citizens their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards.

selective incorporation

the process through which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights to the states on a casebycase basis.

establishment clause

First Amendment protection against the govern ment 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 the First 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 First Amendment.

prior restraint

the suppression of material prior to publication on the grounds that it is harmful or 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

an untrue spoken expression that injures a person's reputation.

obscenity and pornography

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

ex post facto law

a law punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed.

bill of attainder

when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial.

writ of habeas corpus

the right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them.

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.

probable cause

reasonable belief that a crime has been committed or that there is evidence indicating so.

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 and subsequently tried in a court of law.

double jeopardy

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; these 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 indivi dual to be freed while awaiting trial.