APGOV Chapters 8 & 9 Vocabulary: Civil Liberities and Civil Rights

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 citizens their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards.

selective incorporation

The piecemeal process through which the Supreme Court has affirmed that almost all of the protections within the Bill of Rights also apply to state governments.

establishment clause

First Amendment protection against the government 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 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 laws

Laws criminalizing conduct that was legal at the time it occurred.

bill of attainder

A law passed by congress punishing an individual without a trial.

writ of habeas corpus

A document setting out reasons for an arrest or detention.

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 of criminal activity.

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 on criminal charges and subsequently tried in court.

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 suspected of criminal activity.

bail

An amount of money posted as a security to allow the charged individual to be freed while awaiting trial.

Thirteenth Amendment

An amendment to the Constitution passed in 1865 prohibiting slavery within the United States.

Fourteenth Amendment

An amendment to the Constitution passed in 1868 granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and placing restrictions on state laws that sought to abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States.

equal protection clause

Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment that has been used to protect the civil rights of Americans from discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, gender, and other characteristics.

Fifteenth Amendment

An amendment to the Constitution passed in 1870 granting voting rights to African American men.

separate but equal

The doctrine that racial segregation was constitutional so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal.

legal segregation

The separation by law of individuals based on their race.

de jure segregation

The separation of individuals based on their characteristics, such as race, intentionally and by law.

de facto segregation

A separation of individuals based on characteristics that arises not by law but because of other factors, such as residential housing patterns.

affirmative action

A policy designed to address the consequences of previous discrimination by providing special consideration to individuals based upon their characteristics, such as race or gender.

social movement

Large groups of citizens organizing for political change.

civil disobedience

The intentional refusal to obey a law to call attention to its injustice.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legislation outlawing racial segregation in schools and public places and authorizing the attorney general to sue individual school districts that failed to desegregate.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Legislation outlawing literacy tests and authorizing the Justice Department to send federal officers to register voters in uncooperative cities, counties, and states.

Nineteenth Amendment

A 1920 constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.

Title IX of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972

Legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in schools receiving federal aid, which had the impact of increasing female participation in sports programs.