AP US Government and Politics - Unit 3

defendant

In a criminal action, the person or party accused of an offense.

plea bargaining

A bargain struck between the defendant's lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchange for the state's promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious (or additional) crime.

Equal Rights Amendment

A proposed constitutional amendment passed by Congress in 1972 stating that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." The amendment failed to acquire the necessary support from three-fourths of the state legislatures.

ex post facto law

Laws which punish people or increase the penalties for acts that were not illegal or not punishable when the act was committed.

Twenty-First Amendment

repeal of prohibition

civil liberties

The constitutional and other legal protections against government actions. Our civil liberties are formally set down in the Bill of Rights.

equal protection clause

The major constitutional restraint on the power of governments to discriminate against persons because of race, national origin, or sex from the 14th Amendment. By interpretation, the 5th Amendment imposes the same limitation on the national government.

civil rights

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals.

protest

A form of political participation designed to achieve policy change through dramatic and unconventional tactics.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

The 1962 Supreme Court decision holding that state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York's schoolchildren.

establishment clause

Part of the First Amendment stating that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

First Amendment

The constitutional amendment that establishes the four great liberties: freedom of the press, of speech, of religion, and of assembly.

free exercise clause

A First Amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free exercise clause

clear and present danger

Judicial interpretation of the First Amendment that government may not ban speech unless it poses an imminent threat to society.

commercial speech

Communication in the form of advertising, which can be restricted more than many other types of speech.

fighting words

Words that by their very nature inflict injury on those to whom they are addressed or incite them to acts of violence.

libel

The publication of false and malicious statements that damage someone's reputation.

obscenity

Depicting sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

A 1919 Supreme Court decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged resistance to the draft during World War I. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils.

symbolic speech

Nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the First Amendment.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Public school students may wear armbands to class protesting against America's war in Vietnam when such display does not disrupt classes

unprotected speech

Libel, obscenity, and fighting words, which are not entitled to constitutional protection in all circumstances.

New York Times v. US (1971)

A 1971 case that ruled that in order to exercise restraint, the Government must show sufficient evidence that the publication would cause a "grave and irreparable" danger. Establishes a "heavy presumption against prior restraint" even in cases involving national security (Pentagon Papers).

prior restraint

Government actions preventing material from being published. Prior restraint is usually prohibited by the First Amendment, as confirmed in Near v. Minnesota.

Second Amendment

Right to bear arms for the purpose of a well-regulated militia.

cruel and unusual punishment

Court sentences prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

Eighth Amendment

The constitutional amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment.

Fourth Amendment

Ban against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Fourteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil War that declares "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

incorporation doctrine

The legal concept under which the Supreme Court has nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states as well.

selective incorporation

The case-by-case process by which liberties listed in the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states using the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

due process clause

Part of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing that persons cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property by the United States or state governments without due process of law.

exclusionary rule

The rule that evidence cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure.

Fifth Amendment

A constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and punishment without due process of law.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

The 1963 Supreme Court decision holding that anyone, however poor, accused of a felony where imprisonment may be imposed has a right to a lawyer.

Miranda warnings

Warnings that police must read to suspects prior to questioning that advises them of their rights (You have the right to remain silent, ..to an Attorney...); from Miranda v. Arizona case (1967).

probable cause

The situation in which the police have reasonable grounds to believe that a person should be arrested.

procedural due process

Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power.

search warrant

A written authorization from a court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching for.

self-incrimination

The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in court. The Fifth Amendment forbids involuntary self-incrimination.

Sixth Amendment

A constitutional amendment designed to protect individuals accused of crimes. It includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy and public trial.

substantive due process

Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable.

double jeopardy

Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the Constitution.

good faith & plain view exceptions

Exceptions to the exclusionary rule. If police rely on a legal warrant that is defective or police see something illegal without searching, these will be admissible under certain conditions.

unreasonable searches and seizures

Obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner, a practice prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Probable cause and/or a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search for and seizure of incriminating evidence.

right to privacy

The right to a private personal life free from the intrusion of government.

Griswold v. Conneticut (1965)

A case in which the Court found that a Connecticut law requiring counseling and medical treatment violated a woman's right to privacy guaranteed by the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments implied rights of privacy.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

The 1973 Supreme Court decision holding that a state ban on abortions was unconstitutional. The decision forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitted states to limit abortions to protect the mother's health in the second trimester, and permitted states to ban abortion during the third trimester.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022)

A case in which the Court overruled Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion.

de facto discrimination

Discrimination where people are not separated legally but remain separate from each other as a matter of fact.

de jure discrimination

The legal separation or segregation of groups of people based on the law.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the letter on April 16, 1963. In the letter, King defended the nonviolent protests that he participated in for the fight against racial injustice.

literacy test

Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting, generally used to disqualify black voters in the South; now illegal.

Thirteenth Amendment

The constitutional amendment ratified after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude.

Title IX of Education Act of 1972

Prohibited gender discrimination in federally subsidized education programs

white primaries

Primary elections from which African Americans were excluded, an exclusion that, in the heavily Democratic South, deprived African Americans of a voice in the real contests. The Supreme Court declared white primaries unconstitutional in 1944.

civil disobedience

A form of political participation based on a conscious decision to break a law believed to be unjust and to suffer the consequences.

Eighteenth Amendment

Alcohol sales are illegal.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Overrules Plessy v. Ferguson (no stare decisis). Racial segregation violates 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause ("separate is inherently unequal")

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The law making racial discrimination in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbidding many forms of job discrimination.

suffrage

The legal right to vote in the United States, gradually extended to virtually all citizens over the age of 18.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans were registered, and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

A law passed in 1990 that requires employers and public facilities to make "reasonable accommodations" for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment.

equal protection of the laws

Part of the Fourteenth Amendment emphasizing that the laws must provide equivalent "protection" to all people.

poll taxes

Small taxes levied on the right to vote. This method was used by most Southern states to exclude African Americans from voting. Poll taxes were declared void by the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964.

affirmative action

A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group.