AP Gov - Unit 3 Vocab

Civil liberties

fundamental rights and freedoms protected from infringement by the government.

Civil rights

protections from discrimination as a member of a particular group.

Due process clause

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

Selective incorporation

the 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.

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 is harmful or might endanger national security.

Libel

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

Slander

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

Ex post facto laws

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

Bill of attainder

when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial.

Writ of habeas corpus

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

Procedural due process

a judicial standard requiring that fairness be applied to all individuals equally.

Substantive due process

a judicial standard stating the court has the right to protect certain rights from the government even if the rights are unenumerated (not listed) in the Constitution

Probable cause

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

Exclusionary rule

a rule that evidence obtained without a warrant is inadmissible in court.

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.

De jure segregation

the separation of individuals based on their characteristics, such as race, 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.

Civil disobedience

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

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid."