AP Government Unit 3

Civil Liberties

Constitutional freedoms guaranteed to all citizens

Civil Rights

the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality. (Protection from discrimination)

wall of separation

court ruling that government cannot be involved with religion

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

The 1962 Supreme Court decision holding that state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York's schoolchildren.

Lemon v. Kurtzman

The 1971 Supreme Court decision that established that aid to church-related schools must (1) have a secular legislative purpose; (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and (3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion.

Wisconsin v. Yoder

Amish do not have to attend school after 8th grade - right to freedom of religion

Compelling government interest

a purpose important enough to justify the infringement of personal liberties

Standing

legitimate justification for bringing a civil case to court

Plaintiff

a person who brings a case against another in a court of law.

Symbolic speech

nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the first amendment.

Tinker v. Des Moines

U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld a student's First Amendment right to engage in symbolic speech in school- First Amendment is protected so long as they are not disruptive.

Obscene Speech

Depicts sexual conduct in a manner that is "patently offensive" to community standards, and lacks serious artistic, political, or scientific value

Miller v. California

A 1973 Supreme Court decision that avoided defining obscenity by holding that community standards be used to determine whether material is obscene in terms of appealing to a "prurient interest" and being "patently offensive" and lacking in value.

Scheneck v. United States

Supreme Court case of 1919 which help constitutionality of the Espionage Act in a case involving a man who had been prisoned for distributing pamphlets against the draft. Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes concluded that the right to free speech could be limited when it represented a "clear and present danger to the public safety.

Prior restraint

government censorship of information before it is published or broadcast

Case Law

The cumulative judicial decisions related to an issue which create standards and rule that influence future questions.

Controlling opinion

The decision that has created the most relevant rule or standard to answer another case's unique question.

Eighth Amendment

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Metadata

data that describes other data

Selective incorporation

The process by which provisions of the Bill of Rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments.

Due Process

fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen's entitlement.

14th Amendment

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

Just Compensation Clause

A clause of the U.S. Constitution that requires the government to compensate the property owner, and possibly others, when the government takes property under its power of eminent domain

McDonald v. Chicago

Incorporated the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms to the states

District of Columbia v. Heller

U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm

Fifth Amendment

Rights of people accused of crimes

Procedural Due Process

Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods

limits how government may exercise power.

Search and seizure

to examine and take property

Fourth Amendment

Protects against unreasonable search and seizure

Exclusionary rule

improperly gathered evidence may not be introduced in a criminal trial

Mapp v. Ohio

Selective incorporation of the 4th amendment- evidence gathered illegally may not be used in any court cases

New Jersey v. TLO

Supreme court case in which it was decided that a student may be searched if there is "reasonable ground" for doing so.

USA Freedom Act

Federal legislation passed in 2015 that extended parts of the expired USA PATRIOT Act and eliminated controversial parts such as bulk data collection by government agencies

Miranda v. Arizona

Supreme Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police.

Public safety exception

the police can question an un-Mirandized suspect if there is an urgent concern for public safety

Sixth Amendment

Right to a speedy and public trial

Gideon v. Wainwright

A person who cannot afford an attorney may have one appointed by the government even in state cases

Substantive Due Process

Protects unenumerated liberties- government can't make rules about things that aren't their business

Voir Dire

Jury selection process- attorneys can exclude jurors for cause (like biases) or with no explanation (but you can only do this a limited amount of times)

Batson Challenge

An objection to the validity of a peremptory challenge, on grounds that the other party used it to exclude a potential juror based on race, ethnicity, or sex

Habeas Corpus

An order to produce an arrested person before a judge.

The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine

A legal principle that excludes from introduction at trial any evidence later developed as a result of an illegal search or seizure.

The Miranda Rule

the constitutional rights which police must read to a suspect before questioning can occur

Right to privacy

The right to a private personal life free from the intrusion of government.

Griswold v. Connecticut

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

Roe v. Wade

(1973) legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy

Hyde Amendment

Legislation that barred the use of federal funds for nearly any abortion

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

overturned Roe v. Wade, holding that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, leaving decisions about the regulation of abortion to legislatures

Equal Protection Clause

14th amendment clause that prohibits states from denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Established after the 14th amendment was ratified, promotes equal rights

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

An African-American Civil Right's Activist who was peaceful.

19th Amendment

Gave women the right to vote

Equal Pay Act

1963 law that required both men and women to receive equal pay for equal work

National Organization for Women (NOW)

Economic and political organization for women's equal rights to men

Strict Scrutiny

A Supreme Court test to see if a law denies equal protection because it does not serve a compelling state interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that goal

Title IX

Gave women the same educational opportunities as men

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

constitutional amendment passed by Congress but never ratified that would have banned discrimination on the basis of gender

Lawrence v. Texas

state law may not ban sexual relations between same-sex partners

Don't Ask Don't Tell

Under Clinton administration. Concerns allowing gays into military but forbids begin openly homosexual.

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Said that states did not have to accept same-sex marriage. Also barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage for certain purposes.

Obergefell v. Hodges

The 14th Amendment requires states to issue marriage licenses to people of the same sex

Bostock v. Clayton County

workplace discrimination was illegal throughout the nation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

13th Amendment

abolished slavery

15th Amendment

States cannot deny any person the right to vote because of race.

Civil Rights Act of 1975

Made it illegal for privately owned places of public accommodation to discriminate

Civil Rights Cases

A series of 1883 Supreme Court decisions that struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875, rolling back key Reconstruction laws and paving the way for later decisions that sanctioned segregation.

Plessy v. Ferguson

a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal

literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clauses, white primaries

After Reconstruction, various political and legal devices were created to prevent southern blacks from voting.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites

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.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

bans discrimination in public places on basis of race, color, national origin, or religion

Title IX of Education Act of 1972

Prohibited gender discrimination in federally funded education programs

24th Amendment

Abolishes poll taxes

Voting Rights Act

law that banned literacy tests and empowered the federal government to oversee voter registration

Freedom-of-choice plans

Black students had to decide if they wanted to transfer into majority-white public schools after Brown v. Board

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg

approved busing and redrawing district lines as ways of integrating public schools.1971.

White flight

working and middle-class white people move away from racial-minority suburbs or inner-city neighborhoods to white suburbs and exurbs

Majority-minority districts

In the context of determining representative districts, the process by which a majority of the population is from the minority.

Affirmative action

A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

A 1978 Supreme Court decision holding that a state university could not admit less qualified individuals solely because of their race. (Banned quotas but allows affirmative action)

De jure segregation

segregation by law

De facto segregation

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.