Unit 3: Civl Liberties and Civil Rights

Unit 3 Topic 1: Bill of Rights Unit 3 Topic 2: 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion Unit 3 Topic 3: 1st Amendment Freedom of Speech Unit 3 Topic 4: 1st Amendment Freedom of the Press Unit 3 Topic 5: 2nd Amendment Right to Bear Arms Unit 3 Topic 6: Amendments Balancing Personal Freedom with Public Order and Safety Unit 3 Topic 7: Selective Incorporation Unit 3 Topic 8: Due Process and Rights of the Accused Unit 3 Topic 9: Due Process and Right to Privacy Unit 3 Topic 10: Social Movements and Equal Protection Unit 3 Topic 11: Government Responses to Social Movements

Civil Liberties

personal freedoms and protections from government abuses

Bill of Rights

* first 10 amendments to the constitution (1,2,4,5,6,8)
* put in due to concerns by anti-federalists over powerful national government
* originally only protections for states from federal government - not citizens from their state governments

1st Amendment

religions, speech, press, assembly, and petition

2nd Amendment

* right to bear arms (militia or individual debate)
* A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
* Interpretation varies on if this guarantees individual right to own a firearm

4th Amendment

No unreasonable searches or seizures (warrants

5th Amendment

Charges must be presented, can’t be tried twice for the same crime (double jeopardy), right to remain silent ( against self incrimination), no rights deprived without due process (by federal government)

6th Amendment

Right to a speedy, public trial with impartial jury and the right to an attorney

8th Amendment

No cruel and unusual punishments or excessive fines/bail

Supreme Court and the Bill of Rights

* SCOTUS interprets citizens rights as they apply to specific situations and actions
* That interpretation has varied over time due to changing circumstances and changing people on the court

Clauses in the 1st Amendment

* establishment clause and free exercise clause
* both of these have limitations and interpretations best seen in two cases (Engel v. Vitale and Wisconsin v. Yoder)

establishment clause

* congress can’t establish a national religion

free exercise clause

* you cannot be prevented from exercising your own religious beliefs

Engel v. Vitale (1962) Facts

* New York state passed a short, voluntary and non denominational prayer for students to say at the start of each school day

Engel v. Vitale (1962) Question + Answer

* Does this prayer violate the Establishment Clause in the 1st Amendment?
* Yes, the public school can’t lead prayers, even if they are non-denominational and voluntary

Engel v. Vitale (1962) Reasoning + Dissent

* The government is still advocating religion in the some form by using public funding to sponsor prayer
* It does not create “official” religion for offering students the chance to say a prayer if they want to as part of the school day

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) Facts

* Members of the Amish faith kept students home after 8th grade, although it was required until age 16, because high school attendance was against their religious beliefs

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) Question + Answer

* Does the Wisconsin law requiring students to attend school until age 16 and criminally penalizing parents who refuse violate the 1st amendment free exercise clause?
* Yes, the Wisconsin law could not require the Amish students to attend school

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) Reasoning

* The benefits to the state in ensuring students attend 2 more years of school don’t outweigh the religious interests of the Amish community in exercising their religious and community beliefs

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) Facts

* Students wore black armbands to protest Vietnam War

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) Question + Answer

* Does prohibiting the armbands as a symbolic protest violate the 1st amendment freedom of speech?
* Yes, schools may not restrict speech unless it causes a substantial disruption

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) Reasoning + Dissent

* Students don’t lose free speech at school, only if the school can show it would substantially and materially interfere with the operation of the school
* The first amendment doesn’t guarantee the freedom of speech at any time, schools should be given given wide authority to decide what is disruptive

Time Place and Manner Restrictions

* determines if laws limiting speech are constitutional
* Must be content neutral
* Must serve significant government interest
* Must be narrowly tailored
* There must be adequate ways of alternatively expressing

Must be content neutral

* not penalize speech for its message

Must serve significant government interest

* purpose for stopping speech

Must be narrowly tailored

* designed to target specific speech to stop to prevent spillover

There must be adequate ways of alternatively expressing

* again the law can stop the time, place, or manner of speech, not speech itself

Unprotected Speech

* Defamatory Speech and Obscene Speech
* Libel
* Slander
* Obscene Speech

Libel

* false printed statements made to hurt a person's reputation

Slander

* False spoken statements made to hurt a person's reputation

Obscene Speech

* What is obscene? Court uses Miller Test to see if speech is obscene and can be restricted
* Average person apply modern community standards finds it vulgar
* Depicts the speech in a offensive way
* It lacks artistic, scientific, or political value

Schenck v. U.S. (1919) Facts

* Flyers are being distributed that the draft is illegal violation of 13th amendment and people should not sign up

Schenck v. U.S. (1919) Question and Answer

* Does convicting someone under the espionage act for interfering with the draft violate the 1st amendment freedom of speech?
* No, the espionage act is an appropriate use of “wartime authority”

Schenck v. U.S. (1919) Reasoning

* During war the government gets more deference. If speech shows clear and present danger, it is unprotected (Yelling Fire in a crowded theater is unprotected\*)

Prior Restraint

* Government preventing material from being published
* AKA Censorship, usually found unconstitutional
* Near v. Minnesota also incorporates this right against the states

NY Times v. U.S. (1971) Facts

* The Nixon administration wants to prevent the NYT from publishing a Defense department report on the history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, citing national security concerns 

NY Times v. U.S. (1971) Question and Answer

* Does the government preventing publication of this “classified material” violate the 1st amendment freedom of the press?
* Yes, the government didn’t overcome the “heavy presumption” against prior restraint

NY Times v. U.S. (1971) Reasoning

* Security can’t be used to prevent fundamental 1st amendment rights, government can’t show inevitable direct and immediate harm resulting from them publishing it

U.S. v. Miller (1939)

* unanimous decision that 2nd amendment doesn’t protect right to own a specific type of shotgun

D.C. v. Heller (2008)

*  5-4 decision that the licensing and requirement to keep handguns at home violates the 2nd amendment

McDonald v. Chicago (2010) Facts

* Plaintiffs want to apply the D.C. v. Heller decision to the states as well, making them guarantee an individual right to firearms

McDonald v. Chicago (2010) Question + Answer

* Does the 2nd amendment apply to the state through the 14th amendment immunities and privileges or due process clause?
* Yes, the states must uphold the 2nd amendment for the purpose of self defense

McDonald v. Chicago (2010) Reasoning + Dissent

* Gun ownership is a deeply and fundamental American right
* Owning guns isn’t a “liberty” under due process, and nothing in the 2nd amendment suggests it’s a fundamental right

2nd and 4th Amendments

* Personal freedoms to own firearms and be free from unreasonable search
* Public Order of restricted firearms and the need to investigate for crime

Gitlow v. NY (1925)

* Does advocating for the violent overthrow of the government fall under Freedom of Speech? No (at least in 1925), majority says it’s clear and present danger, dissent cites lack of specific threat

Selective Incorporation

* The Bill of Rights being applied against the states as well as the federal government, has not happened for every single right

Miranda Warning

* From Miranda v. Arizona, those arrested must be made aware of their rights to remain silent and to an attorney

Public Safety Exceptions

* Law enforcement can ask questions without Miranda for safety reasons

New York v. Quarles

* asking the question “Where is the gun” after detaining a suspect of a recent shooting is allowed since the purpose was to ensure public safety, it can happen before a Miranda Warning

6th Amendment: Rights of accused

* Right to an attorney
* Right to a speedy and public trial
* Right to an impartial jury

Right to an attorney

* Gideon v. Wainwright, public defenders are hired to represent defendants who can’t afford an attorney 

Right to a speedy and public trial

* Speedy is relative to courts ability to hear the case, overburdened courts work slowly

Right to an impartial jury

* Jury selection to ensure unbiased group

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Facts

* Gideon is arrested for breaking and entering, and goes to trial expecting to be given a court appointed attorney. Florida law states they aren’t required to give him one for a non capital case and he is sentenced to 5 years

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Question + Answer

* Does the 6th amendment right to an attorney extend to felony cases in state courts?
* Yes, the 6th amendment applies to the state through the 14th amendment

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Reasoning

* right to counsel is a fundamental and essential right, so counsel must be available to defendants, even if they can’t afford one

Exclusionary Rule

* Evidence acquired without a specific warrant may be thrown out of court (Judges determine if evidence is excluded)

Mapp v. Ohio

* Incorporates 4th amendment against the states, they must use warrants to acquire evidence
* exclusionary rule

Cruel and Unusual Punishment (8th Amendment)

* The Supreme Court has wavered on Death Penalty over time
* Most modern death penalty considerations are over the method of execution and if it violates 8th amendment right from cruel punishment

4th Amendment and Technology

* protects citizens from unreasonable searches
* Patriot Act (2001)
* USA Freedom Act (2015)

Patriot Act (2001)

* following 9/11, government collects massive amount of cell phone data without a warrant for national security purposes

USA Freedom Act (2015)

* Limitations placed on government action, can still collected bulk metadata, but not actually conversions
* Must remain in storage of telecommunications companies and accessed via warrant

No formal right to privacy in the constitution

* but other amendments “cast shadows” of the idea
* 3rd Amendment: freedom from troop quartering
* 4th Amendment: Warrants for searches and seizures
* 9th Amendment: Other rights people have outside the bill of rights
* 14th Amendment: Due process of law before people are denied life, liberty, or property 

Roe. V. Wade

* Used the 14th amendment due process clause to cite a right to privacy that states could not violate, overturned by Dobbs. V. Jackson (2022)
* legal access to abortion under privacy

Civil rights

* Protections from discrimination on basis of
* Race
* National Origin
* Sex
* Religion

Reconstruction Amendment

* 13th Amendment: abolition of slavery
* 14th Amendment: Citizenship rights and equal protection
* 15th Amendment: Voting Rights not denied based on race

14th Amendment

* Due process clause
* Equal protection clause

Due Process Clause

* nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;

Equal Protection Clause

* nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws

Letter from a Birmingham Jail: Martin Luther King (1963)

* A response to white ministers in Birmingham criticizing civil disobedience to desegregate business in alabama
* Cites the 4 steps to nonviolent civil disobedience
* Highlights specifically the need to cause a crisis to challenge discrimination, as the status quo allows it to continue unchallenged

4 steps to nonviolent civil disobedience

1. Collection of facts to identify whether injustice has occurred
2. Negotiation
3. Self Purification: Ensures nonviolent action on part of movement
4. Direct Action

Dredd Scott v. Sanford (1857)

* denied Dredd Scott representation in court and invalidated state’s right to prevent slavery within their borders

13, 14, 15 Amendments

* Reconstruction attempts to reintegrate Confederate states

Civil Rights Act

* Designed to prevent discrimination in private places

Jim Crow Laws

* series of state laws to reinstitute discrimination

Civil Rights Cases (1888)

* Supreme Court limits government to state actions, not prevent private discrimination

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

* Separate, but equal facilities do not violate the 14th amendment

NAACP

* interest group formed to challenge segregation and discrimination

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

* Race used in voting treated with strict scrutiny

Cooper v. Harris (2017)

* Race used as dominant reason for districts is unconstitutional

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Facts

* A variety of plaintiffs from around the country consolidate a case against segregated public schools, including in Kansas (Topeka Board of Ed)

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Question + Answer

* Does segregation based on race violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment?
* Yes, separate but equal facilities are inherently unequal 

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Reasoning

* Separate facilities imply a sense of inferiority, and using social science data, the court identified that segregated public education is harmful

Civil Rights Act of 1964

* Congress trying to prevent discrimination
* Bans workplace/hiring discrimination
* Passed by congress to help enforce the 14th amendment protections


1. Requires equal voter registration
2. Bans discrimination in public accommodations and facilities
3. Attorney Generals can sue noncompliant schools
4. Cut of federal funding from discriminatory agencies
5. Outlawed hiring discrimination

Voting Rights Act of 1965

* Congress trying to ensure access to voting rights
* Allowed Congress and the federal government to oversee state elections in Southern States


1. Bans literacy tests
2. Pre-clearance: States with prior discrimination need permission to change election laws
3. Majority-minority districts created

Pre-clearance

* States with prior discrimination need permission to change election laws

Majority Minority Districts

* Voting districts in which a minority group or group of minorities make up a majority. 
* racial gerrymandering
* Court has gone back on this concept, citing strict scrutiny of race

Racial gerrymandering

* Race becomes a primary factor in drawing district lines. 

Coverture

* no legal rights outside of marriage/connection to men

Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions

* women’s rights movement pushing for political rights for women

19th Amendment

* women’s right to vote

Failure of ERA (1923, 1972)

* amendment for full equality of sexes fails due to concerns over threat to family

National Organization of Women (NOW)

* interest group for women’s rights

Title IX

* no discrimination on the basis of sex at federally funded educational facilities

Women in Military Academies

* military participation, but not enrolled in draft

Supreme Court on Abortion

* Banned by States prior to 1973

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

* privacy protections for birth control

Hyde Amendment

* no federal funding for abortion services

Planned Parenthood v. Case (1992):

* states can’t place “undue burden” on those seekings abortions

Dobbs v. Jackson (2022)

* Abortion is not protected under privacy, states can regulate it as they see fit

Bowers v. Hardwick

* no legal privacy for same sex relationships