AP Government and Politics Vocabulary

Vocabulary from "The Words We Live By" by Linda R. Monk and AMSCO AP Gov Textbook

First Amendment

Rights to Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition

Second Amendment

Right to Bear Arms

Third Amendment

Prohibits Non-Consensual Quartering of Soldiers

Fourth Amendment

Search and Seizure

Fifth Amendment

Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process

Sixth Amendment

Rights of Accused in Criminal Prosecutions: Rights to Jury Trial, to Confront Opposing Witnesses and to Counsel

Seventh Amendment

Jury Trial

Eighth Amendment

Protections against Excessive Bail, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Ninth Amendment

Non-Enumerated Rights

Tenth Amendment (1791)

Rights Reserved to States

Eleventh Amendment

Suits Against a State

Twelfth Amendment

Election of President and Vice-President

Thirteenth Amendment

Abolition of Slavery and Involuntary Servitude

Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

Protects rights against state infringements, defines citizenship, prohibits states from interfering with privileges and immunities, requires due process and equal protection, punishes states for denying vote, and disqualifies Confederate officials and debts

Fifteenth Amendment

Voting Rights

Sixteenth Amendment (1913)

Federal Income Tax

Seventeenth Amendment

Popular Election of Senators

Eighteenth Amendment

Prohibition

Nineteenth Amendment

Women's Right to Vote

Twentieth Amendment

Commencement of Presidential Term and Succession

Twenty-first Amendment

Repeal of 18th Amendment (Prohibition)

Twenty-second Amendment

Two-Term Limitation on President

Twenty-third Amendment

District of Columbia Presidential Vote

Twenty-fourth Amendment

Abolition of Poll Tax Requirement in Federal Elections

Twenty-fifth Amendment

Presidential Vacancy, Disability and Inability

Twenty-sixth Amendment

Right to Vote at Age 18

Twenty-seventh Amendment

Congressional Compensation

Establishment Clause

Declares Congress shall make no law "respecting an establishment of religion

Brown v. Board of Education

Oliver Brown in Topeka Kansas believed to be in violation of his 14th amendment, which is right to equal protection. The board of education argued that although they go to different schools they have the same things white students were getting. Court sided with Brown and found school segregation unconstitutional. (1954)

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Dred Scott was a slave purchased in Missouri. His owners moved to Illinois and Wisconsin, both free states that prohibited slavery. They moved back to Missouri and Scott sued Sandford because he thought he should be considered a free man because he lived in Wisconsin and Illinois. The court ruled the slaves are not citizens and they could not bring a case to court. It also ruled that slaves are private property and could not be taken away from owners without due process. This case was one of the decisions that led to the Civil War. (1857)

Gibbons v. Ogden

Ogden was an investor with a steamship company and monopolized New York waterways granted to it by state law. Gibbons wanted to use the same waterways granted to him by a federal coasting license. Gibbons brought a case against Ogden and won because federal clauses should always take precedence over state laws. (1824)

Gideon v. Wainwright

Gideon was arrested for burglary and he was forced to defend himself because he could not afford a lawyer and after a judge refused to appoint one. After being sentenced to state prison Gideon sued because he thought his rights were violated. The court sided with him, deciding that the 6th Amendment required courts to appoint an attorney to a defendant who cannot afford one. (1961)

Marbury v. Madison

John Adams (a few days before leaving office) before assumption that Thomas Jefferson would claim power in 1801 appointed William Marbury as Justice of peace. William's papers were not delivered because Thomas Jefferson ordered James Madison to sit on it. While the court agreed that Marbury had the right to have his papers, it also ruled that he could not compel Madison to give them to him. It also ruled that giving Marbury the right to sue for this case was unconstitutional because congress could not extend a court jurisdiction beyond what the constitution provided. This case defined the boundary between executive and judicial branches. (1801)

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Congress created a second bank in the US and Maryland wanted to tax it to stop its operations. The court ruled that Maryland did not have the power as sovereignty lies with the US and not with the states. Congress was also granted the power to pass laws on interstate commerce, tax collection, and financial credit under the necessary and proper clause of the constitution

Miranda v. Arizona

Miranda was arrested for kidnapping and rape. He sued because officers did not tell him that he had rights against self-incrimination and to a lawyer being appointed if he could not afford one. The court agreed and the Miranda rights have been institutionalized ever since. (1966)

Plessy v. Ferguson

Louisiana had a Separate Car Act which ordered railroad companies to provide separate but similar accommodations for whites and coloreds. Homer was 1/8 colored and decided to sit in the white car. He said the law violated his 13th and 14th amendment rights. The court decided against him, supporting the separate but equal argument, which lasted until the Brown vs. Board of Education case. (1896)

Roe v. Wade

Jane Roe challenged a Texas law criminalizing abortion. She sued the district attorney of Dallas, Henry Wade, in attempt to overturn the law. The court decided that women have the right to privacy and to make their own decisions. States however have the right to regulate abortion based on the trimester. (1973)

Texas v. Johnson

Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted for burning a flag during the Republican National Convention in Texas. The court overruled the state court, deciding that the action of Johnson was an extension of his first amendment. (1989)

Pure Speech

Speech that involves only spoken words, without actions

Speech-plus

Speech that combines spoken words with actions, such as demonstrations and picketing

Symbolic Speech

Actions that are themselves a message, without spoken words, also known as ”expressive conduct”

Public forum

A place such as a public park or street that is normally open to First Amendment activities

Obscenity

Speech or action that portrays sex or nudity contrary to societal standards of decency

Defamation

Hurting a person's reputation by spreading falsehoods

Slander

Defamation using spoken words

Libel

defamation using written words

Fighting words

Abusive and insulting comments delivered face-to-face to a specific individual

Censorship

Government control of free expression

Seditious libel

Printing criticism of the government

Prior Restraint

Censoring a work before it is published

Actual Malice

with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not

Heckler's Veto

Ability of a hostile bystander to end a peaceful assembly

Militia

Part-time citizen soldiers who defend their communities in emergencies

Standing Army

A permanent army of professional soldiers

General Warrants

Orders allowing government agents to search anywhere and anyone they wanted

Writ of assistance

A type of general warrant used by British customs officials to search colonial homes and businesses for smuggled goods on which import taxes had not been paid

Warrants

Court orders allowing certain actions, such as arrests or searches

Probable Cause

A reasonable belief that a particular person has committed a particular crime

Exclusionary Rule

Legal doctrine that excludes from a trial any evidence seized illegally by police

Grand Jury

A large jury, normally of twenty-three citizens, that determines if there is enough evidence to charge a defendant with a crime

Petit Jury

A trial jury, usually of six to twelve citizens, that decides the facts in a civil or criminal case

Indictment

Formal criminal charge issued by a grand jury when a prosecutor has enough evidence for trial

Presentment

Formal criminal charge issued by a grand jury independent of a prosecutor

Information

A sworn statement by a prosecutor that he has enough evidence for trial

Double Jeopardy

Trying a defendant more than once for the same offense

Self-incrimination

Compelling a defendant to testify against himself

Inquisition

Questioning accused persons under oath to determine their guilt

Accusation

Forcing the government to prove its case through evidence

Eminent Domain

The government's power to take private property for public use

Venue

\
the location of a trial

Sequestering

Isolating the jury from the community and the news media during trial

Plea Bargains

Process in which the defendant pleads guilty to criminal charges in exchange for a reduced sentence

Voir dire

Questioning potential jurors to reveal their biases and knowledge of the case

Peremptory Challenge

Excluding a potential juror without a cause

Arraignment

A court hearing where the defendant pleads guilt or innocence

Felony

A serious crime with a sentence of more than a year in prison

Misdemeanor

A minor offense with a sentence of a brief jail term or a small fine

Cross-examination

The process of asking questions to challenge a witness's testimony

Hearsay

Testimony about the statement of a third party, rather than something directly observed.

Subpoena

A court order forcing a witness to testify or produce relevant evidence

Civil Cases

Those lawsuits deciding disputes between private parties over noncriminal matters such as personal injuries or contracts

Criminal Cases

Those cases in which the government punishes individuals for committing crimes

Bail

Money or property posted as security to obtain release from jail pending trial

Aggravating Circumstances

Factors that increase the severity of a crime

Mitigating Circumstances

Factors that decrease the severity of a crime

Felony-murder rule

Legal doctrine by which accomplices are convicted of murder-even if another person actually killed the victim-when it was committed as part of a felony such as kidnapping or robbery

Habeas Corpus

A court order directing that an officer who has custody of a prisoner show cause why the prisoner is being held

Unenumerated rights

Those rights not specifically listed in the Constitution

Federalism

The system of shared power between national and state governments

States' rights

Doctrine that the states have sovereign powers equal to the national government

Nationalism

The supremacy of the federal government over the states

Nullification

Doctrine that states can declare an act of federal government to be null and void-also known as interposition.

Sovereign Immunity

Doctrine that sovereign government cannot be sued without its consent

Incorporation

Process by which the Supreme Court has applied the Bill of Rights to the states through the fourteenth amendment

Substantive Due Process

Doctrine that the content of a law must be fair, not just its procedures

Selective Incorporation

The process of extending certain "fundamental" rights in the the bill of rights to the states

Total Incorporation

The process of applying all the provisions in the Bill of Rights to the states

John Adams

American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States

Declaration of Independence

an official act taken by all 13 American colonies in declaring independence from British rule

Benjamin Franklin

American polymath who helped to shape the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and vision for the new nation