Chapter 8 and Chapter 9- civil rights/liberties

What is the Bill of Rights?

First 10 amendments to the Constitution

what were Hamilton's 2 major arguments against the inclusion of the bill of rights and why did federalists eventually agree to include the BOR

-it was unnecessary and would be dangerous to individual liberty

-the antifederalists raised public concern fearing those in power might deny additional rights

what are some major rights found in the bill of rights?

-right to a trial by jury

-right to keep and bear arms

-freedom of speech

-freedom of assembly

-freedom of religion

What is the due process clause?

states that the government shall not deny a person their rights without due process (a legal proceeding), and established the idea that the BOR would apply to both the fed gov and the states

what is selective incorporation?

-process by which the supreme court over time used the due-process clause to expand protections in the BOR to cover state laws/actions

-implementation of the BOR on a case to case basis

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.

Engel v. Vitale

-banned formal prayer in schools, government would not make any religion the 'official' religion

-Violated the establishment clause

-A school in NY started every morning with a prayer

What is the Lemon Test?

1. Purpose of aid must be secular

2. must have a neutral effect on religion

3. must not create excessive entanglement between church and state

-set of criteria used by the Supreme Court in establishment clause cases

Wisconsin v. Yoder

Amish people refused to send their children to school past the 8th grade when the state required public schooling for all children until age 16. Result: This law is in conflict with the Free Exercise clause. The statute is in direct conflict with Amish beliefs. The Amish may teach themselves.

Schenck v. United States

-A 1919 decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during World War I.

-Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils.

What is prior restraint?

censorship before publication

NYT v. US

-The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment.

-ruled president violated the first amendment protections of the press

what are the exceptions to prior restraint

obscenity and national security

what are some examples of symbolic speech

images, signs, symbols used as political expression

Tinker v. Des Moines

-The case that ruled that students do not lose Constitutional rights when they entered the building but they can be limited if they cause a disruption

-students wore black arm bands to school to protest the Vietnam war

What is libel and slander?

Libel is a written defamatory statement, and slander is a spoken or oral defamatory statement.

McDonald v. Chicago

-The Court held that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms" protected by the 2nd Amendment is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment and applies to the states. The decision cleared up the uncertainty left in the wake of District of Columbia v. Heller as to the scope of gun rights in regard to the states.

-mans apartment was continuously broken into but he was not allowed to own a hand gun for self-defense

ex post facto laws

A law which punishes people for a crime that was not a crime when it was committed. Congress cannot pass these laws.

bills of attainder

laws that punish a person without a jury trial

habeus corpus

The legal protection that prohibits the imprisonment of a subject without demonstrated cause

what is a warrant and what is a warrant based on probable cause

a warrant is a document issued by a judge that legalizes a search. A Warrant based of PC means there is a reasonable suspicion that there is evidence of criminal activity

what is the exclusionary rule

a law that prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence in a criminal trial.

what is a grand jury

a jury that determines whether there is enough evidence to justify a trial

what is the protection against double jeopardy

it protects an individual prosecuted of a crime from being charged with the same crime again in the same jurisdiction

What are the Miranda Rights?

-right to officially be informed of 5th and 6th amendment protections when one is arrested

-rights to remain silent and right to an attorney

Gideon v. Wainwright

-a landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In the case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford their own attorneys.

-Gideon was convicted for robbery and couldn't afford a attorney so he defended himself and was convicted, he claimed the court violated his right to counsel

What is the 8th amendment?

No cruel or unusual punishment

Griswold v. Connecticut

Established that there is an implied right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution

Roe v. Wade

The 1973 Supreme Court decision holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. It struck down a Texas law that made abortion illegal

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion, rights were wrongly interpreted in Roe v Wade and said that the decision was left to the states

what was the Americans with disabilities act

Forbids discrimination against people with disabilities in places of employment, education, housing, healthcare, etc

13th amendment

abolished slavery

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws

15th amendment

Citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color , or precious condition of servitude

What is the equal protection clause?

no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of the laws"

what was the significance of plessy v ferguson

It upheld racial segregation by establishing that "separate but equal" accommodations were okay.

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.

Brown II

ordered school desegregation implemented "with all deliberate speed"

de jure segregation

segregation by law

de facto segregation

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.

What is affirmative action?

an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; positive discrimination.

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard

The court held that race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions processes violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

what is a social movement

large group of citizens organizing for political change

Civil Disobedience

the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest.

how was MLK involved in the civil rights movement?

-MLK was selected to lead the Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus

-One of the founders of the SCLC

What are some of the key ideas from MLK's letter from a Birmingham jail?

-explains he is in birmingham due to the injustice there

-he defends his movements tactics on the basis of natural rights

-creates a distinction between just and unjust laws

Civil Rights Act of 1964

This act made racial, religious, and sex discrimination by employers illegal and gave the government the power to enforce all laws governing civil rights, including desegregation of schools and public places.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

-outlaws literacy tests and authorizes the justice department to send federal officers to register voters in uncooperative places

19th Amendment (1920)

Gave women the right to vote

How did the womans rights movement continue after woman gained the right to vote in 1920

-the second wave addressed inequalities at work and home, and addressed the protection from violence and sexual harassment

-much strategy involved changing laws

What is title IX

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance

What is the equal rights amendment and why did it fail?

-The amendment aimed to propose equal right for all people regardless of sex, but failed because only 35/38 states would ratify and time ran out

Why would a president use an executive order?

To bypass congress or get legislation passed without congress

What is Article 1 about?

congress

Which amendment deals with the rights of states?

10th amendment

what established congress?

Great Compromise

what was the grandfather clause

what is suffrage

the right to vote

what is the 4th amendment?

No unreasonable search and seizure, propable cayse

when is prior restraint generally allowed

allowed in cases of national security

which amendment applies rights to states

10

procedural due process

requires government officials to use the same procedure when making and carrying out decisions affecting people’s constitutional rights

unenumerated rights

constitutionally protected rights that are not specifically listed in the bill of rights

substantive due process

whether the laws themselves are good and right and whether they infringe on people’s rights

Griswold v. Connecticut

court had no right to ban contraceptives because of the right to privacy

Roe v. Wade

legalized abortion in all 50 states due to right to privacy

Dobbs v. Jackson

overturned Roe v. Wade, said that abortion wasn’t protected by the constitution