AP Gov Unit 3 Civil Liberties: Rights, Limits, and Incorporation

Civil liberties

Constitutional protections from government action—rules that limit what government can do to individuals (often involving freedom and due process).

Civil rights

Protections usually provided by government to ensure equal treatment (often involving equality and anti-discrimination).

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution; the main source of American civil liberties, written as limits on government power.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the 1787 Constitution who argued that a stronger national government threatened liberty and demanded explicit protections for individual rights.

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Supreme Court case holding that the Bill of Rights originally applied only to the federal (national) government, not to state governments.

Selective incorporation

Doctrine in which the Supreme Court applied most (but not all) Bill of Rights protections to state and local governments over time, case by case, through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause

Constitutional provision stating no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; the key tool the Court used to apply (incorporate) many rights against the states.

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Early incorporation milestone commonly taught for recognizing/assuming that First Amendment free speech protections apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Time, place, and manner restrictions

Government rules that regulate when, where, and how speech occurs (especially in public spaces) that can be constitutional if applied neutrally and leaving open alternative channels for communication.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

Held that student symbolic speech (armbands protesting the Vietnam War) is protected; schools may restrict speech only with a reasonable forecast of substantial disruption.

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

Strengthened speech protection by holding that government generally cannot punish advocacy unless it is directed to inciting imminent lawless action and is likely to produce such action.

Prior restraint

Government action that stops speech or publication before it happens; usually considered especially unconstitutional and difficult for government to justify.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

Pentagon Papers case; the Court rejected the federal government’s attempt to block publication, reinforcing strong protection against prior restraint.

Establishment Clause

First Amendment clause limiting government from establishing an official religion or favoring religion in a way that resembles establishment.

Free Exercise Clause

First Amendment clause protecting individuals’ right to practice religion; government may not prohibit the free exercise of religion (though neutral, generally applicable laws may still be enforced in many situations).

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Held that state-sponsored prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Allowed Amish parents to remove children from school after eighth grade due to sincere religious beliefs, emphasizing protection for religious exercise in that context.

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)

Held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected to militia service, particularly for self-defense in the home; struck down a D.C. handgun ban.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Incorporated the Second Amendment right recognized in Heller, applying it to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Procedural due process

The requirement that government use fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property (e.g., notice, fair hearing, impartial decision-maker).

Substantive due process

The idea that some rights are so fundamental that government generally cannot infringe them even if it follows fair procedures (often tied to certain privacy/autonomy claims).

Exclusionary rule

Rule that evidence obtained in violation of the Constitution (especially the Fourth Amendment) may be excluded from trial.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Applied (incorporated) the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule to the states, meaning illegally obtained evidence generally cannot be used in state criminal trials.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Held that states must provide attorneys to indigent defendants in felony cases, incorporating the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Required police to inform suspects of their rights (including silence and an attorney) during custodial interrogation; statements taken without proper warnings may be excluded.