Civil Liberties

1st Amendments

protects freedom of speech

2nd amendment

protects/guarantees right to bear arms

3rd amendment

a soldier can’t stay in your house without your permission

4th amendment

Illegal search and seizure, the police can not search you or your house

5th amendment

you do not have to testify against yourself

you cannot be put in jailed, killed, or fined, unless you were convicted of crime by a jury

6th amendment

you have the right to a speedy, public trial

7th amendment

right to jury in a civil case

8th amendment

cruel and unusual punishment

9th amendment

people have rights other than the ones listed in the constitution

10th amendment

powers not given to the federal government are reserved to the states or people

Engle v. Vitale

Outlawed prayers in school because it violated the establishment clause

Establishment clause

Incorporated in the 1st amendment and prevents the government from establishing a national religion

The lemon test

Used to determine whether a law violates the establishment clause

The lemon test components

1. have a secular purpose

2. neither advance nor inhibit any religion

3. not foster any excessive entanglement between the government and religion

Free exercise clause

a guarantee of protection of religious practices

Wisconsin v. Yoder

Laws that require school attendance violate the Free Exercise Clause where the state cannot show an interest of the “highest order” which could not be achieved another way

Tinker v. Des Moines

Public school ban on students wearing armbands as a political protest violates a student’s First Amendment freedom of speech

Bethel v. Fraser

School could ban the use of lewd and offensive language without violating the First Amendment

Bethel case gave school officials more power to limit speech at school to prevent disruptions in learning and protect other students from inappropriate language

Schenck v. United States

Charles Schenck made a pamphlet telling men to resist being drafted

case helped establish limitations on free speech may be warranted during wartime

Clear and present danger

limited free speech under the First Amendment by outlawing speech that posed a threat to the common good.

McDonald v. Chicago

right to individual self-defense is protected by the 2nd amendment and

Selective incorportation

process by which SCOTUS applies specific provisions of the BOR to state governments through the 14th amendment Equal Protection Clause

Due process clause

ensures fairness and justice in government actions by guaranteeing that individuals cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. 

NY Times v. U.S

Supreme Court ruled whether to allow prior restraint or not weighing the need for the public to be well-informed and national securtiy

Gideon v. Wainwright

states must provide attorneys to indigent defendants facing felony charges