Constitutional law final 8/9/10/11

State police powers

The inherent power of a government to exercise reasonable control over persons and property within its jurisdiction in the interest of the general security, health, safety, morlas, and welfare except where legally prohibited.

Due process

Due process deals with the administration of justice as such, the due process clause acts as a safeguard from arbitrary denial of life, liberty, or property by the government outside the sanction of law.

Which amendment applies the bill of rights to the states

14th

True or flase: The right to privacy is explicitly stated in the constituion

False

The _____ test is used to determine if speech inciting illegal conduct is protected

Brandenburg

Explain the difference between the 5th amendment and the 14th amendment

The 5th Amendment protects individuals from self-incrimination and double jeopardy, ensuring due process at the federal level, while the 14th Amendment extends due process and equal protection under the law to state actions.

Selective incorporation

A constituional doctrine that protects the rights of citizens from state laws that violate their rights as defined in the bill of rights(which applies to federal law)

Eminent Domain

Refers to the power of the government to take private property and convert it into public use.

Procedural due process

A process that ensures fair procedures

Substantive due process

A princile that protects fundamental rights

Incorporation doctrine

Constituional doctrine that applies parts of the bill of rights to the states through the 14th amendment

Ordered liberty doctrine

Position that fundamental rights are not absolute but are determined by balancing of the public welfare against individual rights

What rights are protected under the 1st amendment

Freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion

What does the due process clause of the 5th and 14th amendment protects?

Life liberty and property.

How does the 14th amendment apply to the 5th amendment

It incorporates the protections in the 5th amendment to the states.

4th amednment

Right aganist unreasonable search and sezuire

Particularity clause (specificty clause)

Particularity describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

key requirments of prodedural due process

notice

opportunity to be heard

neutral decision maker

exapmles of due procedural due process

right to a fair jury

right to counsel

right to remain silent

righ to confront witness

barron v. baltimore

court rules that the 5th amendment just compensation clause did not apply to the state government

Gitlow v. new york 1925

partly reversed barron and established that while the bill of rights was designed to limt the power of the federal government, the incorporation princile allows it to be applied to states

Powell v. alabama 1932 scottsboro boys

incorporated the 6th amendment right to consel in capital offense cases, held that the right to retain a alwyer was a fundamental to a fair trial and that in some cases the judge must unform a defendant of this right

Palko v. connecticut 1937

court notes that some bill of rights huarantees, such as freedsom of toughts and speecch, are fundamental and the 14th amendment due process clause absorbed these fundamental righst and applied them to the states

• however, protection aganist double jeopardy was not a fundamental right

Gideon v. wainwright 1963

gideion represented himself and was found guilty, supreme court case that established that the right to an attorney is a fundamental procteced by the 6th amendment of the consitituion, overturned betts and extended the right to cournsel to all criminal defendats in state and federal courts-resulted in the public defender office

Benton v maryland 1969

SCOTUS overturned palko, holding that double jeopardy clause of the 5th amendment as applied to the states is an elemnt of liberty protected by due process of the 14th amendment

Judicial review and three levels of scruitny

1. Rational basis

   rational relationship to a legitamite government purpose no fundamental rights are involved, nor is there any discrimination based on race or gender

2. Inttermediate scrutiny (gender)

   government must prove there is a substantial relationship between the law and the purpose

3. Srict scrutiny (race)

   narrolwy tailored to a compelling state interest, cases involving certain fundamental rights such as free speech or discrimination based on race

1st amendment protections

speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition

• generally people cannot be held liable for what they say or write if its trutful on an honest opinion

• the government can prohibit speech that may cause violence or a breach of the peace.

Freedom of speech exceptions

1. imminent lawless action

2. fightingwords/hate speech doctrine

3. obscene speech

Brandenburg v ohio (brandenburg test)

SCOTUS held that givernment cannot punish inflammatoru speech ulness that speech is “directed to inciting or producting imminent lawwless action and is likely to incite or produce such action”

two prong test:

1. The speech must be directed to inciting or producing imminent lawlessa ction

2. must be likely to incite or produce such action

Fighting words/ hate speech doctrine

established through chaplinsky v. new hampshire- well defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, insulting or fighting words, those that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace are among this… have neve been thought to raise any constituional problem

Hate speech doctrine

1st amendment fully protects unpopular speech, hate speech can only be criminlized when it directly incites imminent crimal activity or consst of specific threats of violence targeted against a person or group.

Obscene seech

not protected by the first amendment and refers to languge or expression that is deemed offensive, rude, or shocking often due to its explicit or sexual nature, or its use of vulgar or coarse words.

Millar test for obsecen language

1. whether the average person apply contemporary community standards would find that the work taken as a whole, appeals to the pruient interest

2. whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offenive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law.

3. whether the work taken as a whole lacks serious litrary, artistic polictional or scientific vaues

The overbreadth doctrine

allows the court to strike down a law that is too broad and infringes on protected rights, even if the law is being sed to punish an indivudals actions

Content based law

content based law or regulation discrimination aganist speech based on the substance og what it communicates

conetent nuetral law

focus on how the speech is expressed, not what is being said.

Time place and manner test

government can regulate

1. time of speech

2. place of speech

3. manner of speech

4th amendment

protects aganist arbitray seach and sezuires

• search warrants

• stop and frisk

• arrest wrrants

• wiretaps

search warrant

legal document issued by a judge that authorized law enforcement officers to conduct a search a sezuire of a specific place and person, must be based on probale cause and executed in a certian timeframe

standing to invoke the 4th amendment

a person must demonstarate standing to invoke the 4th, meaning they have a legitamate expectaion of privacy in the place or thing searched and that thier rights were violated

Probable cause

a reasonable belief, based on known facts, that a crime has been commited or that certain propety is connected to a crime

Fruits of the poisonous tree doctrine

silverthrorne lumber co v. united states 1920, extends the exculsionary rule, making eivdence inadmissable in court if it was derived from evidence obtained illegally. If the inital evidence is tainted, so is any evidence obtained from it.

the silver platter doctrine

A principle in criminal procedure, allowed federal courts to use evidence illegally seized by state police officers as long as the federal officers didnt participate in or request the search- was declared uncnstitional in 1960 by elkins

4 exceptions to the exclusionary rule

1. good faith doctrine

2. attenutaion of taint doctrine

3. inevitable discovery doctrine

4. independant source doctrine

Good faith doctine

if officers had reasonable, good faith belief that they were acting according to leagl authority, such as by relying on a search warrant that was defective, the illegally seized evidence is admissable.- U.S. v. Leon 1984

attenuation of taint doctrine

provides despite the illegaly obtained evidence such evidenc is admissable if the connection between the evidence and the illegal method is sufficiently remote or attenuated

Inevitable discovery dotrine

Allows illegaly obtained evidence to be admitted if the procescution can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the evidence would have been discovered lawfully regardless of the miscounduct

Independant source doctrine

allows evidence obtained through an unlawful search to be admissable if its later discovered through an independant seperate lawful source untainted by the intial illegality

Exceptions to warrent requirment

1. consent

2. search incident to arrest

3. plain veiw doctrine

4. automobile exceptions

5. hot freash prusuit

6. exigent circumstances

Terry v. ohio

a police officer can stp a suspect on the street and frisk them without probable cause to arrest if

1. the officer has a reasonable articuable suspsion that the person has commited, is committing, or is about to commit a crime

2. has RAS that the person may be armed and presently dangerous

Stop and frisk

Stop is permissible – If reasonable articulable
suspicion that crime is afoot
• Frisk is permissible – If reasonable articulable
suspicion that the person may be armed

Katz v. U.S.

SCOTUS ruled that the 4th amednments protection aganist unreasonable search and sezuire extends to electronic surveillance, focusing on whether a person has a reasonable expectaion of privacy rather than just the physical location

6th amendment

in criminal prosecutions the accused has the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury , be informed of the nature of their charges, to confront the witness aganist them, and to have the assitance of counsel for his defense

Mirande v. Arizona 1966

two prong test

1. custody- formal arrest of the deprivation of freedom to an extent associated with formal arrest 5th

2. interrogation- explicit questioning or actions that are reasonably likley to elcit an incriminating response 6th

The six rules regarding Miranda

1. evidence must have been gathered

2. evidence must be testimonial

3. evidence must have been obtained while the suspect was in custody

4. the evidence must have been the product of interrogation

5. the interrogation must have been conducted by state agents

6. evidence must have been offered by the state during a criminal prosecution