Chapter 6: Constitutional Law & Civil Rights

Supremacy Clause

The clause in the Constitution that makes the Constitution the supreme law of the land.

Separation of Powers

The constitutional doctrine that each of the three branches of government has separate and distinct powers.

Checks and Balances

The constitutional doctrine that each of the three branches of government operates as a check on the power of the other branches.

Judicial Review

The power of the courts to review statutory law to determine if the law is constitutional. 

Writ of Mandate

An order from one court to an agency or lower court directing that it do something or refrain from doing something.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution.

Incorporation Doctrine

The doctrine that specific rights expressed in the Bill of Rights are included in the concept of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and thereby made applicable to the states. 

Establishment Clause

The clause in the First Amendment that prohibits government from enacting any law that results in the establishment of a religion.

Free Exercise Clause

The clause in the First Amendment that prohibits government from enacting any law that interferes with any person’s right to freely practice a religion.

Defamatory

An untrue statement that injures another’s reputation. 

Malice

Acting with ill will toward a person.

Obscenity

The term given to sexual material that appeals to prurient interest and has no socially redeeming value.

Interstate Commerce

Transactions that take place between two or more states that have an economic impact. 

Affirmative Action

A policy that gives special consideration to members of groups that have historically suffered discrimination. 

Substantial Factor

A major consideration.

Procedural Due Process

A requirement of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that, unless special circumstances exist, government not deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without notice and the opportunity for a fair hearing.

Substantive Due Process

A requirement of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that governments not enact laws that deprive a person of life, liberty, or property unless the laws serve a legitimate purpose and are either related to or necessary to achieving that purpose. 

Rational Basis Test

A test used by the courts when examining the constitutionality of a law; requires that the law have a reasonable connection to a legitimate state purpose.

Dissenting Opinion