Civil Liberties and the Constitution

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms related to Civil Liberties and the Constitution from the lecture notes.

Civil Liberties

Areas of personal freedom Constitutionally protected from government interference.

Habeas corpus

A court order demanding that an individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention.

Bill of Rights

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, ensuring certain rights and liberties to the people.

Selective incorporation

The process by which different protections in the Bill of Rights were incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment, thus guaranteeing citizens protection from state as well as national governments.

Palko v. Connecticut (1937)

Supreme Court case that established the principle of selective incorporation, ruling double jeopardy was not incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment at that time.

Birthright Citizenship

The idea that all persons 'born or naturalized' in the United States are citizens, affirmed by the Supreme Court in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1889).

Establishment Clause

The First Amendment provision that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

Free Exercise Clause

The First Amendment provision that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, guaranteeing freedom to practice one's religion of choice without state interference.

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)

Precedent-setting case for the Free Exercise Clause, ruling that children of Jehovah's Witnesses could refuse to salute and pledge allegiance to the American flag due to religious faith.

Lemon Test

A three-part test from Lemon v. Kurtzman for laws concerning religion: government involvement must have a secular purpose, its effect is neither to advance nor to inhibit religion, and it does not entangle government and religious institutions in each other's affairs.

Kennedy v. Bremerton (2022)

Supreme Court case ruling a high school football coach had a constitutional right to pray after games, balancing the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause.

Clear and present danger test

An abandoned test for government intervention or censorship of speech, determining if speech is protected or unprotected based on its capacity to represent a danger to society.

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

Supreme Court case ruling that speech cannot be prohibited, even if subversive, as long as it falls short of actually inciting action.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Supreme Court case that declared a law banning corporate funding of independent electioneering broadcasts unconstitutional.

Fighting words

A category of unprotected speech that directly incites damaging conduct and is not considered an 'essential part of any exposition of ideas' (Dennis v. United States, 1951).

Hate speech

Forms of expression intended to assert hatred toward one or another group of people, which generally falls under constitutional protection based on the R.A.V. Standard.

R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)

Supreme Court case ruling that an ordinance banning cross burning was unconstitutional because it was not content-neutral, establishing the R.A.V. Standard.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Supreme Court case ruling that the First Amendment protected students wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, affirming conditionally protected speech for high school students.

Morse v. Frederick (2007)

Supreme Court case ruling that a school could suspend a student for displaying a banner reading 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus,' restricting student speech deemed as part of their education.

Symbolic speech

Peaceful actions, such as burning the American flag, designed to send a political message, largely protected by the Supreme Court.

Speech plus

Speech with physical activity such as picketing or forms of peaceful demonstration or assembly.

Prior restraint

The effort by the government to block publications it deems libelous or harmful in some way, which is largely protected against by the First Amendment (Near v. Minnesota, New York Times Co. v. United States).

Libel

Written statements made in 'reckless disregard of the truth' that are damaging to the victim; difficult for public figures to win a suit against (New York Times Co. v. Sullivan).

Slander

Spoken statements made in 'reckless disregard of the truth' that are damaging to the victim.

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)

Supreme Court case ruling that for a story about a public official to be libelous, it not only had to be untrue but also had to result from 'actual malice' or 'reckless disregard' for the truth.

Second Amendment

Protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms, though states and local governments can regulate firearms with different standards.

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

Supreme Court case ruling that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense in the home.

New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022)

Supreme Court case striking down a New York state law requiring a special need for self-protection to receive an unrestricted concealed firearm license, affirming public carry as a constitutional right.

Due process of law

The right of every citizen to be free of arbitrary action by national or state government, encompassing protections from the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments.

Fourth Amendment

Guarantees the security of citizens against unreasonable (improper) searches and seizures.

Exclusionary rule

The ability of courts to exclude illegally obtained evidence (established in Mapp v. Ohio, 1961).

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Supreme Court case that established the exclusionary rule, preventing illegally obtained evidence from being used in court.

Terry v. Ohio (1968)

Supreme Court case ruling that if an officer had 'probable cause' to believe a person was armed, a 'stop and frisk' search was permissible.

Fifth Amendment

Covers the right to a grand jury, protection against double jeopardy, and protection from self-incrimination.

Grand jury

A jury that determines whether sufficient evidence is available to justify a trial.

Double jeopardy

A protection from the Fifth Amendment stating that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime.

Miranda rule

Requires that before police interrogation, persons who are under arrest must be informed of their right to remain silent and to have the benefit of legal counsel.

Sixth Amendment

Includes the right to counsel, a speedy trial, and an impartial jury.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Supreme Court case ruling that people facing imprisonment have the right to an attorney, even if they cannot afford one.

Eighth Amendment

Prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.

Cruel and unusual punishment

A prohibition from the Eighth Amendment that has been debated, focusing on the death penalty and prison conditions.

Timbs v. Indiana (2019)

Supreme Court case that incorporated the Eighth Amendment's protection against excessive fines to the states.

Unenumerated rights

Unwritten legal rights, such as the right to privacy, that are inferred from explicitly written rights and deemed fundamental to individual liberty.

Right to privacy

The right to be left alone, not explicitly mentioned in the Bill of Rights but interpreted as resting in amendments like the Fourth, Ninth, or combinations of several.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Supreme Court case formally recognizing the sphere of privacy as a constitutional principle, ruling that a Connecticut law forbidding the use of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Supreme Court case that extended the right to privacy to a woman's right to an abortion, which was later overturned.

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

Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing states to decide whether or not to regulate or ban abortion.

Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

Supreme Court case that overturned Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), establishing that the right to privacy includes the sexual freedom of the LGBTQ+ community.

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Supreme Court case that recognized the right for same-sex couples to marry.