Gov. Chapter 5 Vocabulary

Civil Liberties

These amendments guarantee two types of rights: ____________ and civil rights.

Basic freedoms that are considered to be the birthright of all individuals

Basic freedoms that are guaranteed under the Constitution, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion. These rights are protections from governmental intrusion or abuse.

Civil Rights

These amendments guarantee two types of rights: civil liberties and ___________.

______, on the other hand, are rights that come with being a member of society.

Guarantees of equal rights and equal treatment under the law. Unlike civil liberties, these are not protections from government abuse, but rights that government must provide to its citizens, such as trial by jury and voting rights/

Miranda v. Arizona

In ____________ (1966), the court set forth a procedure for ensuring that suspects know their rights. These rights of the accused became known as the Miranda rights.

NAACP

These groups were the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The ____________ fought for civil rights, initially by challenging segregation laws in the court.

Marbury v. Madison

Before free speech and other rights on paper could be safeguarded, the language of the Bill of rights had to be interpreted and applied under actual circumstances. That task would fall to the Supreme Court under its power of judicial review, a power established in the case of ____________.

Libel and Slander

Two clear examples of this are ___________ --forms of speech, either written or spoken, that make false statements with intent to harm.

Publishing false information about someone with intent to cause harm.

Orally spreading false information about someone with intent to cause harm.

Lemon v. Kurtzman

In 1971, the Supreme Court decided in ______________ that the practice of using public funds to support private religious schools was unconstitutional. This case established a three-point "Lemon test" to determine if and when a government action violates the Establishment Clause.

Texas v. Johnson

In ___________, the Court concluded that flag burning as an expression of opinion was protected symbolic speech. It said that a state could not prohibit such actions, even if it found them offensive. The Court struck down the Texas law as a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.

Engel v. Vitale

In the landmark case ____________ (1962), the Court changed course and struck down a New York law that provided a daily prayer for students to recite. The courts decision in this case remains unpopular with many Americans, but it has led to a greater division between religious teachings and public education.

Prior Restraint

In Near v. Minnesota, the Court declared such attempts at ___________ to be unconstitutional.

An attempt by government to prevent the publication or broadcast of material considered harmful.

Brown v. Board of Education

The Court found in ____________ that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Segregated schools were, therefore, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws.

Charles Schenck

One of the most outspoken opponents of the war and the draft was _____________, the general secretary of the American Socialist Party. He and his fellow socialists took a strong stand against the draft, which they regarded as an unconstitutional violation of individual rights. They believed that Americans should not be forced to serve in the military against their will.

Self-incrimination

These words are based on the Fifth Amendment, which protects individuals from ___________, or saying anything that might imply their own guilt.

Statements, usually made under oath, suggesting that the person speaking is guilty of a crime.

Double Jeopardy

It says no one shall be subjected to __________. This means that if a person is tried for a crime and found not guilty, prosecutors cannot try that person again for the same crime.

The prosecution of a person a second time for a crime for which the defendant has already been tried once and found not guilty. It is prohibited under the Fifth Amendment.

Takings Clause

The Fifth Amendment also contains the ____________. It says that the government may not take private property for public use "without just compensation."

Bail

The Eighth Amendment protects people in the criminal justice system from excessive _________, fines, or cruel and unusual punishments. __________ is money given over to the court in exchange for a suspect's release until his or her trial begins.

Capital Punishment

Some Americans today hold that ____________, or the death penalty, is also a cruel and unusual punishment.

Schenck v. U.S.

The ___________ decision did set a larger precedent, however. It allowed the courts to apply a "balancing test" in free speech cases, weighing the rights of individuals against the broader needs of society.

Espionage Act

To limit dissent, Congress passed the ____________. Among other things, this law stated that any effort to undermine the war effort would be considered a criminal act.

Plessy V. Ferguson

For example, in the case of ___________, the court declared that racial segregation in the south did not violate the fourteenth amendment’s Equal Protection Clause as long as “separate but equal” facilities were provided for all races.

This happened in 1954, when the court rejected its “separate but equal” decision on segregation that had been made in ___________.