Unit 8: Understanding The Bill Of Rights & Its Implications

Civil Liberties

Fundamental rights and freedoms protected from infringement by the government.

Civil Rights

Protections from discrimination as a member of a particular group.

Selective Incorporation

The process through which the Supreme Court has applied the Bill of Rights to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Due Process Clause

No state can deny a person 'life, liberty, or property without due process of law.'

Establishment Clause

Prevents the government from requiring citizens to support or join a religion.

Free Exercise Clause

Protects the rights of individuals to exercise and express their religious beliefs.

Engel v Vitale (1962)

SCOTUS ruling that school-sponsored prayer violated the establishment clause.

Prior Restraint

The suppression of material prior to publication that might endanger national security.

Clear and Present Danger Test

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

Libel

An untrue written statement that injures a person's reputation.

Slander

An untrue spoken expression that injures a person's reputation.

The Lemon Test

Guidelines to determine whether government action violates the establishment clause.

Griswold v Connecticut (1965)

Established the Constitution protects the right to privacy concerning contraceptives.

Roe v Wade (1973)

Ruling that the Constitution protects a woman's right to obtain an abortion in the first three months of pregnancy.

Miranda Rights

Rights that must be read to individuals upon arrest, including the right to remain silent.

Gideon v Wainwright

Extended the right to an attorney to individuals unable to afford one.

Eighth Amendment

Prohibits excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.

Fourth Amendment

Requires a warrant for searches and seizures.

Fifth Amendment

Includes protections against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and mandates for grand juries.

Free Speech

A fundamental right protected by the First Amendment, though not absolute.

National Security

The government’s right to restrict certain expressions during times of war or crisis.

Symbolic Speech

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

Hate Speech

Speech that expresses hatred towards a particular group and is often controversial in terms of regulation.

Obscenity

Material that is defined by legal standards as offensive, lacking any artistic value.

Bill of Attainder

A law punishing an individual without a trial.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

A document setting out reasons for a person's detention.

Doubling Jeopardy

Protection that prevents an individual from being tried again for the same crime.

Privacy Rights

Rights that protect an individual’s personal information and decisions from government interference.

Ninth Amendment

Addresses the existence of unenumerated rights not specifically listed in the Constitution.

District of Columbia v Heller (2008)

Court ruling that overturned a DC ban on handgun ownership for self-defense.

McDonald v Chicago (2010)

Court ruling that upheld the right to bear arms for self-defense as fundamental.

The Tinker Case

Involved students wearing armbands to protest the Vietnam War, protecting symbolic speech.

The Espionage Act of 1917

Allowed for the restriction of expression under wartime conditions.

Mapp v Ohio (1961)

Established the exclusionary rule, where illegally obtained evidence is inadmissible in court.

The Miller Test

Three criteria must be met for material to be defined as obscene.

The Right to Assemble

Protected under the First Amendment, allowing people to gather for peaceful protest.

Death Penalty Rulings

Cases determining the constitutionality of capital punishment methods and their application.