AP Gov Unit 3

Civil Liberties

Basic political freedoms that protect citizens from governmental abuses of power

Due Process Clause

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

Selective Incorporation

The process through which the civil liberties granted in the bill of rights were applied to the state on a case

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

Free Exercise Clause

Part of the first amendment that states that congress cannot prohibit or interfere with the practice of religion

Lemon Test

Something violated the amendment clause if it did not have secular legislative purpose, either advanced or prohibited religion, or fostered an excessive government entanglement with religion

Clear and Present Danger Test

Allows the government to restrict types of speech deemed dangerous

Direct Incitement Test

Established in brandenburg v ohio this protects threatening speech under the first amendment unless that speech aims to and it likely to cause imminent lawless action

Symbolic Speech

Nonverbal expression, such as the use of signs or symbols, it benefits from many of the same constitutional protections as verbal speech

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

Obscene Speech

Legally unprotected speech that often involves pornographic, explicit, or sexual material.

Prior Restraint

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

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 that political speech

Miller Test

Established in Miller v. California, the supreme court uses this three-part test to determine whether speech meets the criteria for obscenity, if so it can be restricted by the government

Due Process Rights

The idea that laws and legal proceedings must be fair. The constitution guarantees that the government cannot take away a person's life, liberty or property without due process of law.

Exclusionary Rule

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

Miranda Rights

The list of civil liberties described in the 5th amendment that must be read to a suspect before anything the suspect says can be used in trial

Double Jeopardy

Being tried twice for the same crime is prevented in the 5th amendment

Privacy Rights

Liberties protected by several amendments in the bill of rights that shield certain personal aspects of citizens lives from governmental interference, such as the 4th amendments protection against unreasonable searches and seizures

Civil Rights

Rights that guarantee individual freedom from discrimination. These rights are generally grounded in the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and more specifically laid out in the 1964 civil rights act passed by congress

Disenfranchised

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

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 and other obstacles to voting, thereby exempting whites from these tests while continuing to disenfranchise african americans and other people of color

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 boar

Protectionism

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

Disparate Impact Standard

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

Rational Basis Test

The uses of evidence to suggest that differences in the behavior of two groups can rationalize unequal treatments of those groups

Substantive Due Process Doctrine

One interpretation of the due process clause, in the view of the supreme court has the power to overturn laws that infringe on individual liberties