Civil Liberties and Constitutional Rights Vocabulary

Vocabulary terms, key concepts, and landmark court cases defining civil liberties, constitutional rights, and due process from the lecture notes.

Civil Liberties

Limitations on government power designed to protect natural freedoms and ensure government cannot legally infringe upon individual liberties.

Civil Rights

Guarantees that government officials will treat people equally and make decisions based on merit rather than identity characteristics such as race, gender, or religion.

Selective Incorporation

The legal process through which the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights were applied to state governments via the Fourteenth Amendment, rather than limiting only the federal government.

Bill of Attainder

A legislative act that declares a person guilty of a crime and imposes punishment without a court trial, prohibited by Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.

Ex Post Facto Law

A law that retroactively punishes actions committed before the law was passed, prohibited by Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.

Writ of Habeas Corpus

A legal demand requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge to determine whether their detention is lawful.

Judicial Review

The power of the judicial branch to review acts of Congress, the executive branch, and state governments to ensure they do not violate constitutional liberties or rights.

Snyder v. Phelps (2011)

A Supreme Court ruling that First Amendment free speech protection extends to protests at military funerals, weighing public speech above a grieving family's peace.

New York Times v. United States (1971)

A Supreme Court case involving the leak of the Pentagon Papers that upheld freedom of the press against executive claims of national security.

Establishment Clause

A First Amendment provision stating that Congress cannot create an official state religion or pass laws favoring one religion over another.

Free Exercise Clause

A First Amendment provision that protects an individual's right to practice their religion without government interference or prosecution.

Freedom of Expression

A bundle of First Amendment rights that includes freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition the government.

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

The Supreme Court decision establishing for the first time an individual right to possess firearms under the Second Amendment for traditionally lawful purposes like self-defense.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

The Supreme Court case that incorporated the Second Amendment individual right to bear arms to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Fourth Amendment

A constitutional amendment protecting individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures and requiring search warrants backed by probable cause.

Fifth Amendment

A constitutional amendment providing due process protections, grand jury indictments, prohibition of double jeopardy, rights against self-incrimination, and eminent domain safeguards.

Eminent Domain

A Fifth Amendment principle requiring the government to offer fair market value to property owners when taking private property for public use.

Sixth Amendment

A constitutional amendment guaranteeing criminal defendants the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to confront witnesses, and to assistance of legal counsel.

Eighth Amendment

A constitutional amendment prohibiting excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments.

Ninth Amendment

A constitutional amendment affirming that the enumeration of specific rights in the Constitution does not exclude or disparage other unenumerated rights retained by the people, such as privacy.

Tenth Amendment

A constitutional amendment providing that powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or the people.