Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, and Constitutional Amendments

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering constitutional rights, amendments, Supreme Court cases, voting rights, and civil liberties based on lecture notes.

Right to Privacy

A right not explicitly granted in the text of the Constitution, but implied through the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9th Amendments.

Double Jeopardy

A constitutional protection stipulating that the government cannot charge an individual twice for the same crime if they are found not guilty.

Civil Liberties

Protections against government intrusion found in the Bill of Rights; they are not absolute and can be restricted when concerns about public safety arise.

Civil Rights

Guarantees against unequal treatment and discrimination that groups have historically fought for; they are not found in the Bill of Rights and are not absolute.

1964 Civil Rights Milestone

Federal action focused on establishing fair employment practices and prohibiting unequal treatment.

1965 Civil Rights Milestone

Federal legislative efforts dedicated to protecting and securing minority voting rights.

1968 Civil Rights Milestone

Civil rights legislation addressing and prohibiting discrimination in housing.

Voter Suppression

An attempt to control the outcome of an election by preventing or discouraging certain categories of people from voting.

Voter Suppression Tactics

Methods used to hinder voting access, including language barriers, intimidation, non-working voting machines, ignoring voting, and limited voting hours or days.

Establishment Clause

A 1st Amendment provision barring the U.S. government from establishing a state religion, requiring religious tests, or providing preferential aid.

Free Exercise Clause

A 1st Amendment protection allowing individuals to believe whatever religion they want, though the government reserves the power to regulate specific religious actions.

2nd Amendment

Protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms—originally intended for militias—preventing states from interfering with citizens buying guns.

Stand Your Ground Law

A legal statute providing that if an individual is threatened, they are not required to run or hide and can stand their ground and shoot to defend themselves.

19th Amendment

A 1920 constitutional amendment prohibiting the federal government and states from denying people the right to vote based on sex, securing women's voting rights.

26th Amendment

A constitutional amendment that lowered the national voting age from 21 to 18 under the slogan 'old enough to fight, old enough to vote.'

Symbolic Speech

Non-verbal actions used to express a point (such as flag burning, protesting, sit-ins, and clothing) that the government protects provided public safety and order are maintained.

Political Speech

The protected right of citizens to criticize the federal government and its policies without fear of punishment from leaders.

Unprotected Speech

Categories of expression not protected by the Constitution, specifically commercial speech, libel, slander, fighting words, and obscenity.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

A landmark Supreme Court case ruling that segregation by law is unconstitutional and inherently unequal, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

A Supreme Court ruling based on an implied right to privacy establishing a woman's right to an abortion, partitioned into trimester frameworks.

Lemon v. Kurtzman

A Supreme Court ruling establishing standard criteria for when the government can extend aid to religious schools without violating the Establishment Clause.

Lemon Test

A three-step standard requiring that aid to schools must have a secular purpose, must not advance religion, and must avoid excessive government entanglement or repeated assistance.

De Jure Segregation

Racial segregation that is enforced by law.

De Facto Segregation

Racial segregation that occurs in practice and not by law, historically prevalent in the North.

Black Codes

Laws passed by legislatures in Southern states designed to bypass constitutional amendments and block former slaves from exercising rights.

Jim Crow Laws

Statutes intended to enforce widespread racial segregation and separation across public and private life.

Freedom of Assembly

The right of people to gather peacefully in public or private spaces to express, promote, and defend shared ideas, subject to permits and TPM (time, place, and manner) restrictions.

Miranda Warnings

Procedures police must deliver before questioning suspects, protecting the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination and the 6th Amendment right to counsel.