AP US 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.

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 piecemeal process through which the Supreme Court has affirmed that almost all of the protections within the Bill of Rights also apply to state governments.

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.

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.

Obscenity and pornography – Words, images, or videos that depict sexual activity in an offensive manner and that lack any artistic merit.

Ex post facto laws – Laws criminalizing conduct that was legal at the time it occurred.

Bill of attainder – A law passed by Congress punishing an individual without a trial.

Writ of habeas corpus – A document setting out reasons for an arrest or detention.

Procedural due process – A judicial standard requiring that fairness be applied to all individuals equally.

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 inadmissible in court.

Grand jury – A group of citizens who decide whether there is sufficient evidence to charge an individual with a crime.

Double jeopardy – Being tried twice for the same crime, which is prohibited under the Fifth Amendment.

Miranda rights – The right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning, established in Miranda v. Arizona.

Bail – A sum of money used as a security deposit to ensure that an accused person returns for their trial.