American Government Study Guide: Bill of Rights, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key terms, constitutional amendments, legal doctrines, and landmark civil rights legislation from the study guide.

Civil Liberties

Specific individual rights protected from government infringement.

Bill of Rights

The first $10$ amendments to the U.S. Constitution, written by James Madison and ratified on December 15, 1791, to protect individual liberties.

Doctrine of Incorporation

The legal process beginning in 1925 with Gitlow v. New York where courts used the 14th Amendment to apply Bill of Rights protections to state governments on a case-by-case basis.

Doctrine of Expressed Powers

The Federalist key idea holding that the national government cannot use powers that have not been explicitly granted to it by the Constitution.

Tacit Implication

The Anti-Federalist fear that ambitious government officials will read implied powers into vague constitutional text.

Establishment Clause

1st Amendment provision prohibiting a state-sponsored religion and preventing government from favoring one religion over another.

Free Exercise Clause

1st Amendment provision preventing the government from interfering with religious belief or practice, whether public or private.

Free Speech Clause

1st Amendment clause protecting political expression and supporting a free market of ideas.

Free Press Clause

1st Amendment protection ensuring the press is free of government ownership or control in order to hold government accountable.

Right of Association

A court-recognized right derived from the 1st Amendment right to assemble peaceably, extending to preparation and group affiliation.

Petition Clause

1st Amendment clause requiring the government to receive citizens' grievances.

Federalist 46

Essay written by James Madison arguing that an armed population combined with state governments provides a check capable of resisting a federal standing army.

Third Amendment

Constitutional amendment prohibiting the quartering of soldiers in private homes during peacetime without owner consent; it has not been incorporated.

Habeas Corpus

Article I, Section 9 protection requiring police to bring a detainee to court to test whether their detention is lawful.

Procedural Due Process

Legal requirement guaranteeing notice, an opportunity to be heard, and a neutral decisionmaker before government action.

Eminent Domain

The government's power to take private property for public use under the 4th and 5th Amendments, requiring just compensation.

Exclusionary Rule

Legal rule established in 1961 barring illegally obtained evidence from being used at trial.

Grand Jury

5th Amendment body that determines if there is enough evidence to bring an accused person to trial; not incorporated to the states.

Double Jeopardy

5th Amendment protection prohibiting a person from being prosecuted twice for the same crime.

Self-Incrimination

5th Amendment privilege protecting individuals from being compelled to testify against themselves, specifying that a jury cannot consider silence as evidence of guilt.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Supreme Court case derived from the 5th Amendment establishing that suspects must be informed of their rights prior to police interrogation.

Seventh Amendment

Amendment guaranteeing a jury trial in civil common law suits involving values over $20$ (over $75,000$ in federal courts today); not incorporated.

Ninth Amendment

Amendment clarifying that listing specific rights in the Constitution does not deny or disparage other rights retained by the people.

Tenth Amendment

Amendment establishing federalism by reserving powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or the people.

13th Amendment

1865 amendment abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

14th Amendment

1868 amendment containing the Equal Protection, Due Process, and Citizenship clauses, as well as provisions regarding the Confederacy.

15th Amendment

1870 amendment prohibiting the denial of voting rights based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

16th Amendment

1913 amendment authorizing a federal income tax.

17th Amendment

1913 amendment establishing the direct popular election of U.S. senators.

18th Amendment

1919 amendment establishing the national prohibition of alcohol.

19th Amendment

1920 amendment granting women's suffrage.

21st Amendment

1933 amendment repealing the 18th Amendment while leaving state alcohol laws intact.

22nd Amendment

1951 amendment establishing a presidential two-term limit.

24th Amendment

1964 amendment prohibiting poll taxes or other taxes as a condition for voting in elections.

25th Amendment

1967 amendment establishing presidential succession procedures.

26th Amendment

1971 amendment lowering the legal voting age to $18$.

Reasonable-Basis Test

Judicial review standard applied to ordinary distinctions, such as state laws regulating drinking age.

Intermediate Scrutiny

Judicial review standard applied to gender classifications.

Strict Scrutiny

Highest level of judicial review applied to suspect classifications like race and national origin, growing out of Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Law relying on the Commerce Clause to guarantee equal access to public facilities and ban hiring, promotion, and wage discrimination in medium and large private firms.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Federal legislation ending literacy tests and other barriers to voting and voter registration.

Fair Housing Act of 1968

Also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1968, legislation banning refusal to sell or rent housing based on race, religion, ethnicity, or sex.

VRA Extension of 1982

Federal legislation requiring preclearance of electoral changes that would reduce minority voting participation.

De Facto Discrimination

Institutional, social, economic, or cultural bias that leads to inequality, as opposed to official discrimination written into law.