WK 5: Civil Rights and Liberties Vocab

AP GOV

Civil Liberties

Civil Liberties

The rights to freedom of thought, expression, and action, and the protection of these rights from government interference or restriction

Poll Tax

A tax placed on an individual who wants to vote

Establishment Clause

The 1st Amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"

Suffrage Movement

Struggle Dedicated to winning the right to vote for women

Selective Incorporation

American courts have applied portions of the U.S. Bill of Rights to the states

Ex Post Facto

A law that makes illegal an act that was legal when committed, increases penalties for an infraction after it has been committed, or changes the rules of evidence to make conviction easier

NAACP

1909; merging of the Niagara Movement and a group of blacks led by W.E.B. Du Bois; demanded equal rights

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Law that prohibited discrimination in public places on the basis of sex, race, religion, or national origin

Civil Rights

The positive role that a gvt takes to enforce rules, laws, and regulations regardless of race, religion, sex, or other characteristics

Free Exercise Clause

Part of the First Amendment that says the govt shall make no law denying an individual the right to practice his religious beliefs

Affirmative Action

Policy which gives special consideration to women and members of minorities to make up for past discrimination

Equal Protection Clause

Constitutional guarantee that no person or class or persons shall be denied the same protection of the laws that is enjoyed by others in like circumstances in their lives, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness

Jim Crow

The system of laws and practices that discriminated against African Americans between the Civil War and Civil Rights Movement

Exclusionary Rule

Evidence gained by illegal or unreasonable means cannot be used in the court trial of the person from whom it was seized; based upon SCOTUS interpretation of the 4th and 14th Amendments.

SCLC

Martin Luther King's Civil Rights organization founded in 1957, a key in the civil rights movement

Double Jeopardy

Persons accused of a crime and judged not guilty may not be put on trial again for the same crime

Plessy v. Ferguson

Upheld the constitutionality of an 1890 Lousisana statute requiring white and colored persons to be furnished separate but equal accommodations on railway cars

Voting Rights of 1965

A law passed at the time of the civil rights movement that eliminated various devices like literacy tests, which were used to prevent minorities from casting ballots

Roe v. Wade

1973; landmark decision from SCOTUS that declared a pregnant woman is entitled to have an abortion until the end of the first trimester of pregnancy without interference by the state

Miranda Rights

The rights of which an arresting officer must advise the person being arrested (Right to remain silent, everything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law, etc)