Ethics - Study Guide for Exam #3

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards for Ethics Exam #3 covering constitutional amendments, legal principles, rights classifications, speech doctrine, and landmark Supreme Court decisions.

Moral vs. Legal Rights

Moral rights are based on ethical beliefs. Legal rights are protected by laws.

Negative vs. Positive/Welfare/Socio-economic Rights

Negative rights protect freedom from interference. Positive rights require support or services.

$1^{\text{st}}$-Generation Rights

Fundamental civil and political rights (largely negative rights) designed to protect individual autonomy and liberty from state interference, including free expression, religious freedom, voting rights, and due process protections.

$2^{\text{nd}}$-Generation Rights

Social, economic, and cultural rights (primarily positive rights) that require state resources to ensure human welfare and material security, including rights to food, shelter, healthcare, and employment.

$3^{\text{rd}}$-Generation Rights

Collective or solidarity rights held by communities or humanity as a whole, such as rights to peace, self-determination, a healthy environment, and shared heritage.

Kant's Foundation for Human Rights

People have dignity and must be treated as ends, never merely as means.

Civil Rights

protection against discriminatory treatment that ensure equal status, opportunities, and participation in political and civil society.

Due Process Rights

protects fair legal procedures

Due Process Clause

Requires the government to follow fair procedures before taking life, liberty, or property.

Equal Protection Clause

Requires states to treat people equally under the law.

Unreasonable Searches & Seizures

Searches or taking of property by the government without proper legal justification.

Probable Cause

Reasonable grounds to believe a crime occurred or that evidence of a crime exists.

Double Jeopardy

Protection against being prosecuted twice for the same offense after jeopardy attaches.

Cruel & Unusual Punishment

Punishment prohibited by the $8^{\text{th}}$ Amendment that is barbaric, torturous, degrading, or grossly disproportionate to the severity of the offense committed.

Racial Profiling (Weak vs. Strong)

The practice of using race or ethnicity as a basis for suspicion by law enforcement; 'weak' profiling utilizes race as one descriptive element among others, while 'strong' profiling relies on race as a primary or sole predictive proxy for criminal likelihood.

Jim Crow

Laws that enforced racial segregation and discrimination, especially in the South.

Literacy Tests

Tests used to prevent people, especially Black Americans, from voting.

Gerrymandering

Drawing voting district boundaries to benefit a political party or group.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA 1964)

Prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA 1965)

Comprehensive federal legislation enacted to enforce the $15^{\text{th}}$ Amendment by prohibiting racial discrimination in voting..

Coverage Formula

Formula used to determine which areas had to receive federal approval before changing voting laws.

Preclearance

Requirement for certain states or areas to get federal approval before changing voting laws.

Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

Supreme Court struck down the VRA's coverage formula, weakening federal preclearance protections.

Harm Principle (HP)

The government may restrict freedom to prevent harm to other people.

Paternalism Principle (PP)

The government may restrict freedom to protect people from harming themselves.

Offense Principle (OP)

The government may restrict behavior that seriously offends others.

Moralism Principle (MP)

The government may restrict behavior because it is considered immoral.

Freedom of Speech

The First Amendment right to express opinions and ideas..

Censorship & Prohibition

Restricting or suppressing speech or information.

Hate Speech

Expressive communication that denigrates, demeans, or incites hatred or violence against individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.

Racist Speech

Verbal or symbolic expression that insults, demeans, promotes hostility toward, or asserts the inferiority of individuals or groups based on racial or ethnic identity.

Sexist Speech

Verbal, written, or symbolic expression that discriminates against, demeans, objectifies, or perpetuates harmful stereotypes based on sex or gender.

John Stuart Mill

Philosopher who supported individual liberty and freedom of expression.

On Liberty

Mill's work arguing that people should be free unless their actions cause harm to others.

Anti-sodomy Laws

Laws that criminalized certain sexual acts; many were struck down in Lawrence v. Texas (2003).

Erotica versus Obscenity

A legal and philosophical distinction where erotica encompasses sexually explicit expression protected under free speech, whereas obscenity refers to sexually explicit material lacking serious value that falls outside constitutional protection.

L.A.P.S. Test

A class-specific test for identifying obscenity. Check your class notes for the exact meaning of each letter.

Schenck v. U.S. (1919)

Supreme Court upheld limits on speech during wartime and used the clear-and-present-danger test.

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

Speech can be punished as incitement only if it is intended and likely to cause imminent lawless action.

$1^{\text{st}}$ Amendment

Constitutional amendment guaranteeing freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government.

$4^{\text{th}}$ Amendment

Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

$5^{\text{th}}$ Amendment

Protects due process, against self-incrimination, and double jeopardy.

$6^{\text{th}}$ Amendment

Guarantees a speedy and public trial, an attorney, an impartial jury, and witnesses.

$8^{\text{th}}$ Amendment

Prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail or fines.

$13^{\text{th}}$ Amendment

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

$14^{\text{th}}$ Amendment

Guarantees citizenship, due process, and equal protection under the law.

$15^{\text{th}}$ Amendment

Protects voting rights regardless of race, color, or previous enslavement.

$19^{\text{th}}$ Amendment

Protects voting rights regardless of sex.

Section 8

Government program that helps low-income families pay for housing.

Food Stamps (SNAP)

Government program that helps low-income people purchase food.

Social Security

A federal social insurance program established to provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to eligible workers and their families.

Obamacare / ACA

Affordable Care Act; a law that expanded access to health insurance.