APGov - Chapter 8 Unit 3 - Ella

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

list of fundamental rights and freedoms that individuals possess. The first ten amendments to The U.S. Constitution is referred to as the Bill of Rights

due process clause

clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that restricts state governments from denying their citizens their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards

selective incorporation

process through which the Supreme Court applies fundamental rights in the Bill of Rights to the states on a case-by-case basis

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

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

suppression of material prior to publication on the grounds that it is harmful or might endanger national security

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

obscenity and pornography

words, images, or videos that depict sexual activity in an offensive manner and that lack any artistic merit

ex post facto law

law punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed

bill of attainder

when legislature declares someone guilty without a trial

writ of habeas corpus

right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them

procedural due process

judicial standard requiring that fairness be applied to all individuals equally

warrant

document issued by a judge authorizing a search

probable cause

reasonable belief that a crime has been committed or that there is evidence indicating so

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 a person should be indicted and subsequently tried in a court of law

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 in custody suspected of criminal activity

bail

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