AP US GOV Ch. 8 Terms

Test Date 3/31/26

Civil liberties

Constitutionally established guarantees that protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals from unreasonable interference by government

Civil rights

Protections for individuals from discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, sex, and other characteristics, ensuring equal treatment under the law

Bill of Rights

List of fundamental liberties and rights that individuals possess. The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are referred to as this.

Due process clause

Clause in the 14th Amendment that restricts state governments from denying persons their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards.

Procedural due process

Requirement that government officials use methods that are not arbitrary when making and carrying out decisions affecting constitutionally protected rights.

Substantive due process

Requirement that law be fundamentally fair to all citizens

Selective incorporation

Case-by-case process through which the Supreme Court affirmed that almost all of the protections in 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 express and exercise their religious beliefs

Clear and present danger test

Legal standard that speech posing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected by First Amendment.

Prior restraint

Suppression of material prior to publication

Symbolic speech

Protected expression in the form of images, signs, and other symbols.

Libel

Untrue written statement that injures a person's reputation

Slander

Untrue spoken expression that injures a person's reputation

Ex post facto laws

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

Bill of attainder

Law passed by Congress punishing an individual without a trial.

Writ of habeas corpus

Document setting out the reasons for an arrest or detention.

Warrant

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

Rule that evidence obtained without a warrant is inadmissible in court

Grand jury

Group of citizens who, based on the evidence presented to them, decide whether or not to formally charge a person accused of a crime.

Double jeopardy

After an individual has been acquitted of a crime, charging that individual with the same crime again in the same jurisdiction.

Miranda rights

Right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning; these rights must be given by police to individuals in custody who are suspected of criminal activity.