Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Vocab

Civil Liberties

rights of full citizenship and equality under law

personal freedoms protected from govt interference or deprivations (born with)

Civil Rights

expansion of rights to all people (govt interference/dealt with)

constitutional freedoms guaranteed to all citizens

Free exercise clause

from first amend: protects citizens’ right to practice their religion as they please, prohibits govt from interfering with practice of religion

Establishment clause

clause in first amend: says the govt may not create an official religion

Symbolic speech

nonverbal communication like burning a flag or wearing an armband (protected under 1st amend)

Defamatory/offensive speech

false that damages a persons name/character/reputation, not protected by free speech in 1st amend

clear and present danger

interprets 1st amend that govt cant interfere with speech unless it poses an obvious threat that will endanger ppl

prior restraint

govt cencorship of info before its published/broadcasted

cruel and unusual punishment

punishment that is significantly harsher than traditional punishments (like the death penalty), listed in 8th amend to prevent govt torture when ppl dont pay fines n stuff

right to privacy

the right to a private personal life free from govt intrustion (ex: roe v wade, b4 it got overturned)

not explicity stated in const. but backed up by 3rd, 4th, 9th, and 14th amend

rights of the accused

stated in 6th amend: right to a speedy, public, and fair trial

due process clause

in the 14th amend, basically no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or propert w/o due process of law (basically govt has to follow certain procedures b4 depriving someone of these things)

selective incorporation

process where supreme court decides whihc provisions of the bill of rights it wishes to apply to the states

federalism

system where pwr is divided btwn national and state govts (federalists thought bill of rights to be unnecessary)

equal protection clause

in the 14th amend: says no state shalll deny any person the equal protection of the laws

strict scrutiny

test that guidelines the court to determine the constitutionality of govt discrimination

highest standard of judicial review

affirmative action

policy to redress past discrimination on minorities through measures to improve their $ and educational opportunities (colleges have to admit a certain amount of colored kids to not seem racist)

Amendment 1

freedom of RAPPS (religion assembly, petition, press, speech)

Amendment 2

right to bear arms

Amendment 3

Citizens cant be forced to quarter troops

Amendment 4

No unreasonable search and seizure

Amendment 5

can’t be deprived of life, liberty, or property, w/o due process of the law

“you have the right to remain silent/i plead the fifth”

Amendment 6

right to a speedy, public, and fair trial

Amendment 7

right to a trial by jury in civil ($) cases

Amendment 8

No cruel or unusual punishment. No excessive fines or bail

Amendment 9

the govt cant take away rights if theyre not stated in const

Amendment 10

anything not covered in the const is given back to the states to deal with

Letter from Birmingham Jail

letter by MLK Jr after arrested in nonviolent march against segregation, he was disappointed christians didnt speak out against racism and he promoted nonviolence protest methods

Tinker v Des Moines School District

deals with 1st amend and sybmolic speech

court case about those kids that wore armbands in vietnam protest and the school got mad

Engel v. Vitale

also about 1st amend and freedom of religion and the establishment clause

about that school that recited a prayer and the jewish kids parents got mad

Wisconsin v Yoder

deals with 1st amend and free exercise clause

about the amish ppl mad that they had to send their kids to school

Schenck v United States

deals with 1st amend and clear and present danger test, placed restrictions on free speech

about that dude distributing anti-draft pamphlets

New York Times Co v United States

deals with first amend and protects freedom of press

allowed nytimes to publish pentagon papers even tho. the US was mad and said to restrict it

McDonald v Chicago

deals with 2nd amend incorporated w the due process caluse of the 14th amend, saying it applied to the states too

Old guy gets offended on chicagos strict gun laws

Gideon v Wainright

incorporated 6th amend and the due process clause in 14th amend

ordered states to provide lawyers for ppl who cant provide them

Brown v Board

says racial segregation violates 14th amendment equal protection clause

“seperate is unherently unequal”

stops segregation in schools!

Marbury v Madison

said judiciary act of 1789 is unconstitutional bc it conflicts with constitution

establishes judicial review

McCulloch v Maryland

denied MD to tax national bank

expanded fed pwrs and used supremacy and necessary & proper clause to justify

US v Lopez

creation of gun free zones unconstituional bc no relation to “commerce”

returned pwr to states

about that one dude who brang a gun to a school and got tried in fed court but he said it wasnt the fed courts place

Baker v Carr

“one man, one vote”

created guidleiness for congresional districts and guaranteed equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state

Shaw v Reno

no racial gerrymandering

race cant be the sole factor in redrawing legislative boundaries

Citizens United v FEC

deals with free speech protected in 1st amend

says the free speech clause prohibits govt from restricting campaign expendentures (wherever the political campaign spends its $, like ads)