GOVT-2305: Unit Exam 2

Accommodation

The principle that government does not violate the establishment clause as long as it does not confer an advantage on some religions over others

civil liberties

The limits on government that allow people to freely exercise their rights

Domestic terrorism

use of violent criminal acts by American citizens to advance ideological goals, often aimed at minority groups

Double jeopardy

The principle that an individual cannot be tried twice for the same offense

Establishment clause

The 1st Amendment principle that government may not establish an official religion

Exclusionary rule

The ruling that evidence obtained in an illegal search may not be introduced in a trial

Fighting words

Expressions inherently likely to provoke violent reactions and not necessarily protected by the 1st Amendment

Free exercise clause

The 1st Amendment principle that government may not interfere in religious practice

Grand jury

A jury that does not decide on guilt/innocence but only on where there is enough evidence to go to trial

Hate speech

Hostile statements based on someone’s personal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, etc.

Imminent lawless action

Updated court doctrine; restrictions on free speech only permitted if officials affirm a credible threat that dangerous illegal actions are an immediate and provable danger

Judicial rules

Hard and fast boundaries between what is lawful and what is not

Judicial statements

Guiding principles that help governments make judgment calls

Miller test

3-part test for judging whether a work is obscene (if it has all 3, it loses 1st Amendment protection)

Miranda warnings

A set of rights that police are required to inform suspect of. (The right to remain silent)

Prior restraint

Legal effort to stop speech before it occurs

Selective incorporation

The extension of protections from the Bill of Rights to the state governments, one liberty at a time

Strict separation

The strict principles articulated in the Lemon test for judging whether a law establishes a religion

Symbolic expression

An act, rather than an act of speech, used to demonstrate a point of view

USA Patriot Act

Legislation that sought to enhance national security; passed in the aftermath of 9/11

Clear and present danger

Court doctrine that permits restrictions on the speech if officials believe that the speech will lead to prohibited action such as violence or terrorism

Civil rights

The freedom to participate in the full life of the community - to vote, use public facilities, and exercise equal economic opportunity

limits on government

Civil liberties can best be described as…

It only applied to the federal government

Why was the Bill of Rights slow to touch American life in the 1800s?

slowly incorporated the Bill of Rights and applied it to the states

The 14th Amendment…

Chicago Burlington and Quincy RR v. Chicago

Which Supreme Court case was the first to apply the Bill of Rights to the states?

No quartering of soldiers

Which of the following Bill of Rights protections still does not apply to state governments?

Roe v. Wade

In 1973, the right to privacy led to one of the most controversial Supreme Court decisions ever, in the case of

establishment clause

In a blockbuster case, Engel v. Vitale (1962) the Supreme Court ruled that New York’s practice of starting the school day with prayer violated the

Sherbert Test

free exercise of religion

democracy requires a vigorous debate

The 1st Amendment, specifically the freedom of speech, gets a “preferred position” among the Amendments because

WWI suggested strong questions of what speech could be regulated in times of war

Why do modern constitutional debates about freedom gain steam in 1919?

symbolic expression

When Clarence Brandenburg burned his cross, he engaged in a form of speech known as

unpatriotic speech

The Supreme Court will not regulate

principle of prior restraint

When the Nixon Administration went to court to block the New York Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers, it was abusing the

subject to the Miller test

Obscenity is

applies to the states as well as to the national government

The Supreme Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment

Trials take too much time unless courts exclude irrelevant evidence

was the motivation behind the exclusionary rule

14th Amendment

No state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, and property, without due process of law

Near v. Minnesota

Incorporated free press into the 14th Amendment

Gitlow v. New York

Incorporated free speech into the 14th Amendment

Mcdonald v. Chicago

Incorporated the right to keep and bear arms into the 14th Amendment

Mapp v. Ohio

Incorporated the right to no search and seizure without a warrant into the 14th Amendment

Miranda v. Arizona

Incorporated the right to remain silent into the 14th Amendment

Powell v. Alabama

Incorporated the right to counsel in capital punishment cases into the 14th Amendment

Gideon v. Wainwright

Incorporated the right to counsel in any criminal trial into the 14th Amendment

Timbs v. Indiana

Incorporated the right to no excessive fines imposed into the 14th Amendment

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

Replaced Roe’s judicial rule with a judicial standard

Lawrence v. Texas

Extended the right of privacy to same-sex couples

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Established the Lemon test

Employment Division v. Smith

Neutrality test that stated that if law applied to everyone and does not target a religious group, the Court will permit it

Religious Freedom Act (RFRA)

Required federal and state governments to use the Sherbet balancing test

First part of the Miller Test

The average person, provided contemporary community standards, would find that the work appeals to a prurient interest

Second part of the Miller test

It depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way

Third part of the Miller test

The work lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value

Tinker rule

Students right to free speech can be limited only if it interferes with the operation of the school

Isolated negligence

It is up to the court to declare if they want to use evidence gathered after a warrant expired

1963 March on Washington

A massive rally for civil rights that included Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech

Abolition

A 19th century movement demanding an immediate and unconditional end to slavery

Affirmative action

Direct steps to recruit members of previously underrepresented groups into schools and jobs

Black power

A slogan that emphasized pride in Black heritage and the construction of Black institutions to nurture Black interests. It often implied racial separation in reaction to white racism

Brown v. Board of Education

The landmark Supreme Court case that struck down segregated schools as unconstitutional

Chicanismo

A defiant movement expressing pride in Latino origins and culture in the face of discrimination

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark legislation that forbade discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or nationality

Class action

A lawsuit filed on behalf of an entire category of individuals, such as all public housing residents in a state or all female managers in a large company

Compromise of 1850

A complicated compromise over slavery that permitted some territories to vote on whether they should be slave or free and permitted California to enter the Union as a free state. It also included a strict - hugely controversial - fugitive slave law forcing Northerners to return Black people into bondage

Critical race theory

A scholarly tradition that analyzes the way racial hierarchy is organized into American laws and institutions; has recently come under political fire as overly negative and pessimistic about the American experience

De facto discrimination

More subtle forms of discrimination that exist without a legal basis

De jure discrimination

Discrimination established by laws

Disproportionate impact

The effect some policies have of discriminating, even if discrimination is not consciously intended

Domestic dependent nation

Special status that grants local sovereignty to tribal nations but does not grant them full sovereignty equivalent to that enjoyed by independent nations

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A landmark Supreme Court decision holding that Black men could not be citizens under the Constitution. It created a national uproar.

Emancipation Proclamation

An executive order by Lincoln that declared the enslaved people in all rebel states to be free

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Federal law enforcement agency charged with monitoring compliance with the Civil Rights Act

Equal protection of the laws

The landmark phrase in the 14th Amendment that requires equal treatment for all citizens

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Originally drafted by Alice Paul in 1923, passed by Congress in 1972, and ratified by 35 states, that declared: “Equality of rights… shall not be derived or abridged… on account of sex.”

Freedom riders

Black and white activists who rode buses together to protest segregation on interstate bus lines.

Free rider problem

A barrier to group or collective action arising because people who do not participate still reap the benefits

Great migration

The vast movement of Black people from the rural South to the urban North between 1910s-1960s.

Intersectionality

How different social identities like race, gender, and sexual orientation mix to create patterns of privilege or discrimination.

Jim Crow

The system of racial segregation in the US South that lasted from 1890-1965, and that was often violently enforced

Literacy test

A requirement that voters exhibit an ability to read; in reality, a way to restrict Black suffrage

Missouri Compromise

An agreement to open Southern territories west of the Mississippi to slavery while closing northern territories to slavery

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

A civil rights organization formed in 1909 and dedicated to racial equality

National Organization for Women (NOW)

An organization formed in 1966 to take action for women’s equality

the New Jim Crow

The idea that mass incarceration of Black people has the sweeping effects of Jim Crow Laws. Title of a book by Michelle Alexander.

Plessy v. Ferguson

An 1896 Supreme Court case that permitted racial segregation

Quasi-suspect category

A legal standard that requires governments to have an imponent state purpose for any legislation that singles out sex or gender. This isn’t as strong as the suspect category, which requires strict scrutiny.

Reconstruction

The failed effort, pursued by Northerners and Southerners, to rebuild the South and establish racial equality after the Civil War

Reframing the issue

To redefine the popular perception of an issue

School busing

An effort to integrate public schools by mixing students from different neighborhoods

Section 504

An obscure provision in a minor congressional act that required all institutions that received federal funds to accommodate people with disabilities

Seneca Falls Convention

The first convention dedicated to women’s rights, held in July 1848

United Farm Workers (UFW)

An influential union representing migrant farm workers in the west

Civil rights

The freedom to participate in the full life of the community - to vote, use public facilities, and exercise equal economic opportunity

Strict scrutiny

A form of judicial review that requires the government to have a “compelling government interest” for any law that singles out race/ethnicity

The executive branch reviews congressional efforts

is not a step to political equality

Sex

isn’t a category that faces strict scrutiny

Legislation is only able to divide groups on the basis of category if the government has a compelling interest

best describes what it means to face strict scrutiny

A law forcing pilots to retire at 65

would face the least strict scrutiny