civil rights test

Civil liberties

Constitutionally established guarantees and freedoms that protect citizens, opinions, and property against arbitrary government interference.

Civil War amendments

The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, which abolished slavery and granted civil liberties and voting rights to newly freed people after the Civil War.

Clear and present danger test

Established in Schenck v U.S., this test allowed the government to restrict certain types of speech deemed dangerous.

Commercial speech

Public expression with the aim of making a profit; it has received greater protection under the First Amendment in recent years but remains less protected than political speech.

Direct incitement test

Established in Brandenburg v. Ohio, this test protects threatening speech under the First Amendment unless that speech aims to and is likely to cause imminent 'lawless action.'

Double jeopardy

Being tried twice for the same crime; this is prevented by the Fifth Amendment.

Due process clause

Part of the 14th Amendment that forbids states from denying 'life, liberty, or property' to any person without the due process of law.

Due process rights

The idea that laws and legal proceedings must be fair; found in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.

Establishment clause

Part of the First Amendment that states, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,' which has been interpreted to mean that Congress cannot sponsor or favor any religion.

Exclusionary rule

The principle that illegally or unconstitutionally acquired evidence cannot be used in a criminal trial.

Fighting words

Forms of expression that 'by their very utterance' can incite violence; these can be regulated by the government but are often difficult to define.

Free exercise clause

Part of the First Amendment that states that Congress cannot prohibit or interfere with the practice of religion unless there are important secular reasons for doing this.

Hate speech

Expression that is offensive or abusive, particularly in terms of race, gender, or sexual orientation; it is currently protected under the First Amendment.

Intermediate scrutiny

The middle level of scrutiny the courts can use when determining whether a law is constitutional.

Lemon test

The Supreme Court uses this test, established in Lemon v. Kurtzman, to determine whether a practice violates the First Amendment's establishment clause.

Libel

Written false statements that damage a person's reputation; they can be regulated by the government but are often difficult to distinguish from permissible speech.

Miller test

Established in Miller v. California, this three-part test is used by the Supreme Court to determine whether speech meets the criteria for obscenity.

Miranda rights

The list of civil liberties described in the Fifth Amendment that must be read to a suspect before anything the suspect says can be used in a trial.

Prior restraint

A limit on freedom of the press that allows the government to prohibit the media from publishing certain materials.

Privacy rights

Liberties protected by several amendments in the Bill of Rights that shield certain personal aspects of citizens' lives from governmental interference.

Selective incorporation

The process through which most of the civil liberties granted in the Bill of Rights were applied to the states on a case-by-case basis through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Slander

Spoken false statements that damage a person's reputation; they can be regulated by the government but are often difficult to distinguish from permissible speech.

Strict scrutiny

The highest level of scrutiny the courts can use when determining whether a law is constitutional.

Symbolic speech

Nonverbal expression, such as the use of signs or symbols; it benefits from many of the same constitutional protections as verbal speech because of its expressive value.

'Time, manner, and place' restrictions

Reasonable and content-neutral limits imposed by the government to regulate the context of expression.

Affirmative action

Policies to help people who have been historically excluded or underrepresented, such as women and minorities, have better access to higher education and employment.

Civil rights

Rights that guarantee individuals freedom from discrimination; these rights are generally grounded in the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

De facto

Relating to actions or circumstances that occur outside the law, or 'by fact,' such as the segregation of schools that resulted from housing patterns.

De jure

Relating to actions or circumstances that occur 'by law,' such as the legally enforced segregation of schools in the American South before the 1960s.

Disenfranchised

To have been denied the ability to exercise a right, such as the right to vote.

Disparate impact standard

The idea that discrimination exists if a practice has a negative effect on a specific group, whether or not this effect was intentional.

Grandfather clause

A type of law enacted in several southern states to allow those who were permitted to vote before the Civil War and their descendants to bypass literacy tests.

Jim Crow laws

State and local laws that mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the South, many border states, and some northern communities between 1876 and 1964.

'Letter from Birmingham Jail'

A letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 from his jail cell in Alabama as a response to a newspaper ad by white religious leaders.

Civil Disobedience

Everyone has an obligation to follow just laws but also an equal obligation to break unjust laws.

Protectionism

The idea under which some people have tried to rationalize discriminatory policies by claiming that some groups should be denied certain rights for their own safety or well-being.

Rational Basis Test

The use of evidence to suggest that differences in the behavior of two groups can rationalize unequal treatment of these groups.

Separate but Equal Doctrine

The idea that racial segregation was acceptable as long as the separate facilities were of equal quality; supported by Plessy v. Ferguson and struck down by Brown v. Board of Education.

Substantive Due Process Doctrine

One interpretation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; in this view, the Supreme Court has the power to overturn laws that infringe on individual liberties.

Title IX of the Education Amendments

A federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

A federal law that banned racial discrimination in voting and provided for federal election examiners to enforce the law.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Declared the institution of a national nondenominational prayer in public schools to be unconstitutional.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Established that states must provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants who cannot afford them.

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Established that the First Amendment right to free speech applies to the states.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Made the right to keep and bear arms applicable to state and local governments.

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

Established a heavy presumption against the government's use of 'prior restraint' to censor publications.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Established the 'clear and present danger' test, which prohibited free speech that posed an immediate threat to national security.

Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)

Established the right for students to wear armbands protesting war as a constitutional exercise of their right to free speech.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Ruled that Wisconsin's law requiring school attendance through age 16 violated the Amish parents' rights to freedom of religious practice.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Prohibited the de jure segregation of public schools and overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Upheld the 'separate but equal' doctrine by saying that racial segregation did not violate the constitution.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

Ruled that racial gerrymandering must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause.

Bill of Rights

Created a written statement of our civil liberties and limits the national government, not the states.

Equal Protection Analysis Test

A scrutiny test used to evaluate discrimination cases.

Strict Scrutiny Test

For cases dealing with suspect classification; the law must be narrowly tailored and serve a compelling state interest.

Intermediate Scrutiny Test

For cases dealing with sex or gender equality; the law must serve an important government interest and be substantially related to that interest.