AP Government Vocab #3

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Writ of habeas corpus

A court order requiring explanation to a judge why a prisoner is being held in custody.

Ex post facto law

Retroactive criminal law that works to the disadvantage of a person.

Bill of attainder

Legislative act inflicting punishment, including deprivation of property, without a trial, on named individuals or members of a specific group.

Due process clause

Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth Amendment prohibiting state governments from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law

Equal protection clause

Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. By interpretation, the Fifth Amendment imposes the same limitation on the national government. This clause is the major constitutional restraint on the power of governments to discriminate against persons because of race, national origin, or gender.

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.

Establishment clause

Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. The Supreme Court has interpreted this to forbid governmental support to any or all religions.

Free exercise clause

Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion

Clear and present danger test

Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal acts

Preferred position doctrine

 Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that freedom of expression is so essential to democracy that governments should not punish persons for what they say, only for what they do.

Nonprotected speech

Libel, obscenity, fighting words, and commercial speech, which are not entitled to constitutional protection in all circumstances. 

Libel

Written defamation of another person. For public officials and public figures, the constitutional tests designed to restrict libel actions are especially rigid

Sedition

Attempting to overthrow the government by force or use violence to interrupt its activities.

Commercial speech

Advertisements and commercials for products and services; they receive less First Amendment protection, primarily to discourage false and misleading ads. 

Prior restraint

Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional

Civil disobedience

Deliberate refusal to obey law or comply with orders of public officials as a means of expressing opposition

Naturalization

A legal action conferring citizenship on an alien

Dual citizenship

Citizenship in more than one nation

Right of expatriation

The right to renounce one’s citizenship

Eminent domain

Power of a government to take private property for public use; the U.S. Constitution gives national and state governments this power and requires them to provide just compensation for property taken

Substantive due process

Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; limits what the government may do.

Search warrant

A writ issued by a magistrate that authorizes the police to search a particular place or person, specifying the place to be searched and the objects to be seized.

Racial profiling

Police targeting of racial minorities as potential suspects of criminal activities

Exclusionary rule

Requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial

Immunity

Exemption from prosecution for a particular crime in return for testimony pertaining to the case

Grand jury

 A jury of 12 to 23 persons who, in private, hear evidence presented by the government to determine whether persons shall be required to stand trial. If the jury believes there is sufficient evidence that a crime was committed, it issues an indictment

Indictment

A formal written statement from a grand jury charging an individual with an offense; also called a true bill

Plea bargain

Agreement between a prosecutor and a defendant that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having to stand trial for a more serious offense

Petit jury

 A jury of 6 to 12 persons that determines guilt or innocence in a civil or criminal action

Double jeopardy

Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the Constitution

Community policing

Assigning police to neighborhoods where they walk the beat and work with churches and other community groups to reduce crime and improve relations with minorities.

Natural rights

The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights.

Affirmative action

Remedial action designed to overcome the effects of discrimination against minorities and women

Women’s suffrage

The right of women to vote

Racial gerrymandering

The drawing of election districts so as to ensure that members of a certain race are a minority in the district; ruled unconstitutional in 1960

Poll tax

Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) and ruled unconstitutional for all elections in 1966

Literacy test

Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting, generally used to disqualify black voters in the South; now illegal

Jim Crow laws

State laws formerly pervasive throughout the South requiring public facilities and accommodations to be segregated by race; ruled unconstitutional

De jure segregation

Segregation imposed by law

De facto segregation

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice. 14. Commerce clause – The clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) that gives Congress the power to regulate all business activities that cross state lines or affect more than one state or other nations