AP GOV unit 3

Civil Liberties

fundamental rights and freedoms protected from infringement by the government

civil rights

protections from discrimination as a member of a particular group based on race, religion, or sex (ensuring equal treatment under the law).

Bill of Rights

a list of fundamental rights and freedoms that individuals possess. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are referred to as the Bill of Rights.

Due Process Clause

the clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that restricts state governments from denying citizens their life, liberty, or property without legal safeguards

selective incorporation

The process by which provisions of the Bill of Rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments.

1st Amendment

Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition

2nd Amendment

Right to bear arms

3rd Amendment

Right to not have to quarter Soldiers

4th Amendment

Protection against Unreasonable Search and Seizure, warrent needed.

5th Amendment

The Right to Remain Silent/Double Jeopardy, right to due process

6th Amendment

The right to a Speedy Trial by impartial jury, representation by an attorney for an accused person

7th Amendment

Right to a trial by jury in civil cases

8th Amendment

protection against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment

Establishment Clause

First Amendment protection against the government requiring citizens to join or support a religion

Free Exercise Clause

First Amendment protection of the rights of individuals to exercise and express their religious beliefs

freedom of expression

a fundamental right affirmed in the First Amendment to speak, publish, and protest

clear and present danger test

legal standard that speech posing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected by the First Amendment

prior restraint

the suppression of material prior to publication on the grounds that it might endanger national security (when gov censors material before it is published).

symbolic speech

protected expression in the form of images, signs, and other symbols

Libel

an untrue WRITTEN statement that injures a person's reputation

Slander

an untrue SPOKEN expression that injures a person's reputation

obsenity and pornography

words, images, or videos that depict sexual activity in an offensive manner and that lack an artistic merit (court upheld restrictions but it is hard to define).

ex post facto laws

laws criminalizing conduct that was legal at the time it occurred (prohibited in article 1)

bill of attainder

a law passed by Congress punishing an individual without a trial (prohibited in article 1)

writ of habeas corpus

a document setting out reasons for an arrest or detention (article 1 establishes the right to demand).

Procedural Due Process

a judicial standard requiring that fairness be applied to all individuals equally (most standards have been applied to the states through selective incorporation).

warrant

a document issued by a judge authorizing a search

probable cause

reasonable belief that a crime has been committed or that there is evidence of criminal activity

exclusionary rule

a rule that evidence obtained without a warrant is not valid in court.

grand jury

a group of citizens who, based on the evidence presented to them, decide whether or not a person should be indicted on criminal charges and subsequently tried in court

double jeopardy

protects an individual acquitted of a crime from being charged with the same crime again in the same jurisdiction

Miranda Rights/Warning

the right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning; these rights must be given by police to individuals suspected of criminal activity

bail

A sum of money used as a security deposit to ensure that an accused person returns for his or her trial

13th Amendment

an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1865, that has abolished slavery.

14th Amendment

an amendment to the constitution passed in 1868 granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and placing restrictions on stage laws that sought to abridge these privileges and immunities.

Equal Protection Clause

14th amendment clause that prohibits states from denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination

15th Amendment

an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1870, that prohibits the denial of voting rights to people because of their race or color or because they have previously been slaves

seperate but equal

the doctrine that racial segregation was constitutional so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal

Affirmative Action

a policy designed to address the consequences of previous discrimination by providing special consideration to individuals based upon their characteristics, such as race or gender

de jure segregation

the separation of individuals based on their characteristics, such as race, intentionally and by law

de facto segregation

a separation of individuals based on characteristics that arises not by law but because of other factors, such as residential housing patterns

Civil Disobedience

the intentional refusal to obey a law to call attention to its injustice

Civil Rights Act

(1964) legislation outlawing racial segregation in schools and public places and authorizing the attorney general to sue individual districts that fail to desegregate.

Voting Rights Act

(1965) legislation outlawing literacy tests and authorizing the justice department to send federal officers to register voters uncooperative cities, counties, and states.

19th Amendment

(1920) gave women the right to vote

Title IX of Education Amendments act of 1972

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance

Civil Rights Movement

movement in the United States beginning in the 1960s and led primarily by Blacks in an effort to establish the civil rights of individual Black citizens

compelling state interest

a fundamental state purpose, which must be shown before the law can limit some freedoms or treat some groups of people differently

death penalty

The punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime

Defamation

the action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.

eminent domain

Power of a government to take private property for public use.

Grandfather Clause

A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867.

hate speech

a form of profanity meant to degrade, intimidate, or dehumanize groups of people

indictment

a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime

injunction

an authoritative command or order

Jim Crow Laws

Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites

majority-minority districts

a district in which voters of a minority ethnicity constitute an electoral majority within that electoral district

Natinal Organization for Women

USA Patriot Act

Anti Terrorism law that allowed the government certain rights to help chase and capture terrorists

poll tax

A requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote (used to keep blacks from voting)

prior-choice movement

pro-life movement

a movement whose followers believe that abortion is murder and should not be conducted under any circumstances (or under limited circumstances involving the physical health of the mother)

public safety exception

Exception to Miranda requirements that permits police to immediately question a suspect in custody without providing any warnings, when public safety would be jeopardized by their taking the time to supply the warnings.

racial classification

the attempt to assign humans to discrete categories based on common ancestry

racial gerrymandering

drawing of legislative boundaries to give electoral advantages to a particular racial group. "Majority-minority" districts include large numbers of racial minorities in order to ensure minority representation in legislatures.

right to privacy

The right to a private personal life free from the intrusion of government.

Secular

Concerned with worldly rather than spiritual matters

Strict Scrutiny

A Supreme Court test to see if a law denies equal protection because it does not serve a compelling state interest and is not narrowly tailored to achieve that goal

time, place, and manner restrictions

Government regulations that place restrictions on free speech. These regulations, specifying when, where, and in what way speech is allowed, are applied when unrestricted free speech will conflict with the rights of others.

USA Freedom Act

A 2015 law that came into effect the day after the USA PATRIOT Act expired. This act restored many provision of the PATRIOT Act but limited the collection of telecommunication metadata of citizens by the National Security Agency.

Women's Rights Movement

an organized effort to improve political, legal and economic status of women in American society

Schenck v. United States

1919--Case involving limits on free speech. Established the "clear and present danger" principle. (in times of war more things are a clear and present danger)

McDonald v. Chicago

The right of an individual to "keep and bear arms" protected by the 2nd Amendment is incorporated by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment and applies to the states. (2010)

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson (separate but equal), declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.

Tinker v. Des Moines

U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld a student's First Amendment right to engage in symbolic speech in school as long as it is not disruptive. (1969)

Engel v. Vitale

The 1962 Supreme Court decision holding that state officials violated the First Amendment (establishment clause) when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York's schoolchildren.

Wisconsin v. Yoder

Amish children do not have to go to school until they are 16---they may stop after the 8th grade because of their religious beliefs. (1972)

New York Times v. US

Supreme Court case protecting the freedom of the press by allowing the New York Times to publish the "Pentagon Papers" despite the Justice Department's order to restrict it

Gideon v. Wainwright

a landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In the case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford their own attorneys. (1963)

While a right to privacy is not explicitly named in the Constitution, what clause has the court used to protect this right from state infringement?

The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

Tinker v. Des Moines