Unit 3: Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

Civil Liberties

Constitutional freedoms guaranteed to all citizens

Civil Rights

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals.

Bill of Rights (1791)

The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.

Due Process Clause

14th amendment clause stating that no state may deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law

Selective Incorporation

The process by which provisions of the Bill of Rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments.

Establishment Clause

Clause in the First Amendment that says the government may not establish an official religion.

Free Exercise Clause

A First Amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion.

Freedom of Expression

Right of people to speak, publish, and assemble

Clear and Present Danger Test

Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger.

Prior Restraint

Government censorship of information before it is published or broadcast

Symbolic Speech

Nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband.

Libel

A written defamation of a person's character, reputation, business, or property rights.

Slander

The action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.

Ex Post Facto Law

A law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed

Bill of Attainder

A law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or a fair hearing in court

Writ of Habeas Corpus

A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody.

Warrent

An issued order from court

Probable Cause

Reasonable grounds (for making a search, pressing a charge, etc.).

Exclusionary Rule

Improperly gathered evidence may not be introduced in a criminal trial

Grand Jury

A group of citizens that decides whether there is sufficient evidence to accuse someone of a crime.

Double Jeopardy

Being tried twice for the same crime

Miranda Rights

A list of rights that police in the United States must read to suspects in custody before questioning them, pursuant to the Supreme Court decision in Miranda v. Arizona.

Bail

A sum of money used as a security deposit to ensure that an accused person returns for his or her trial

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Struck down state-sponsored prayer in public schools, violation of the Establishment Clause.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free exercise clause

Schneck v. US (1919)

Speech can be limited if it is considered a "clear and present" danger

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

If a newspaper prints an article that turns out to be false but that the newspaper thought was true at the time of publication, the newspaper has not committed libel.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Public school students may wear armbands to class protesting against America's war in Vietnam when such display does not disrupt classes

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is applicable to the states

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Extends to the defendant the right of counsel in all state and federal criminal trials regardless of their ability to pay.

Reconstruction Amendments

13th, 14th, and 15th amendments

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolishes and prohibits slavery

14th Amendment (1868)

Citizenship to everyone born in the U.S.

Equal Protection Clause

14th amendment clause that prohibits states from denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination

15th Amendment (1870)

U.S. cannot prevent a person from voting because of race, color, or creed

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Overrules Plessy v. Ferguson (no stare decisis). Racial segregation violates 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause ("separate is inherently unequal")

De Jure Segregation

Racial segregation that occurs because of laws or administrative decisions by public agencies.

De Facto Segregation

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.

Civil Disobedience

A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African-American suffrage

19th Amendment (1920)

Gave women the right to vote

Title IX (1972)

Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity