Exam Notes on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Civil Liberties

• The Bill of Rights was not initially applied to the states.

• Originally, states had the autonomy to decide on civil liberties.

Barron vs. Baltimore

• The Supreme Court held that the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government, not the states.

• Baltimore was not obligated to respect the First Amendment because the Bill of Rights was initially intended to prevent tyranny from a centralized government, not the states.

14th Amendment

• Enacted because Congress distrusted states (especially Southern states) to protect the rights of newly freed enslaved people.

• Aims to ensure states respect the Bill of Rights.

• Incorporation Doctrine: The process of applying the Bill of Rights protections to the states.

• Gitlow vs. New York: Established that states must respect the Bill of Rights due to the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

• McDonald vs. Chicago: Illustrates the recent application of the Bill of Rights to states, specifically concerning gun control.

First Amendment

• Religious Freedom

  • Establishment Clause: Government cannot establish an official religion; separation of church and state.

  • No partiality or connection to any religion.

  • Free Exercise Clause: Allows individuals to practice their religion.

    • Example: Being allowed to pray at work.

  • Engel vs. Vitale: Established prayer in schools is unconstitutional.

• Freedom of Speech

  • Schenck: Limits on speech; cannot yell "fire" in a theatre.

  • Tinker: Symbolic speech is protected (actions and symbols).

  • Texas: Protected speech includes actions like burning the flag.

• Freedom of the Press

  • Prior Restraint

  • Slander and Libel

    • Slander is spoken, libel is written.

  • Obscenity

    • Miller Test

• Freedom of Assembly

  • Skokie vs. Illinois: Neo-Nazis wanted to march in a Jewish town.

    • Towns cannot prohibit assembly based on the content of speech; only time, manner, and place can be regulated.

• Freedom of Association

  • NAACP: The court recognized that the right to assemble implies the right to associate; preventing association impedes assembly.

Second Amendment

• Heller vs. DC: Established an individual's right to bear arms.

• Applied to the states.

Fourth Amendment

• Mapp vs. Ohio: Addresses search and seizure.

  • Exclusionary Rule: Illegally obtained evidence is inadmissible in court.

  • If a search warrant is exceeded, evidence obtained outside the warrant's scope will be excluded.

Fifth Amendment

• Double jeopardy

• Pleading the Fifth (right to remain silent)

• Miranda vs. Arizona: Established Miranda rights.

Sixth Amendment

• Due process

• Gideon vs. Wainwright: Guarantees the right to a public attorney.

• Plea Bargaining: Accepting a lesser punishment to avoid a full trial.

  • Some innocent individuals may accept plea bargains to avoid the risk of a harsher sentence.

Right to Privacy

• An implied right

• Related to abortion rights.

Right to Equality

• Rooted in the 14th Amendment.

• The Declaration of Independence's statement that "all men are created equal" was initially a mission statement.

• Dred Scott: Ruled that slavery could exist anywhere and African Americans were not citizens.

• Plessy vs. Ferguson: Established "separate but equal" doctrine.

• Brown vs. Board of Education: Overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson, stating "separate but equal" is inherently unequal.

• Kicked off the Civil Rights Movement.

  • Political participation.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Voting Rights Act: Eliminated the grandfather clause and literacy tests (which also affected poor white people).

15th Amendment

• Prohibits discrimination in voting based on race.

Hernandez vs. Texas

• Ensures that juries must represent the defendant's community; all-white juries against African American defendants are unfair.

Equal Rights Amendment

• Demonstrates the difficulty of passing a constitutional amendment.

Three Levels of Scrutiny

• Low Scrutiny → Intermediate Scrutiny → Strict Scrutiny

• Low Scrutiny: Example: Minimum age requirements for drinking (age >= 21) and driving (age >= 17).

• Intermediate Scrutiny: Requires evaluating the specific facts of the case.

• Strict Scrutiny: Requires the state to demonstrate a substantial interest.

Obergefell vs. Hodges

• All same-sex marriages must be recognized.

The Bill of Rights was not initially applied to the states, allowing individual states the autonomy to determine the scope and protection of civil liberties for their residents. This situation led to variations in the safeguarding of individual rights across the nation, further complicating the relationship between the federal government and the states regarding civil liberties.

Barron vs. Baltimore

In the landmark case Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court held that the Bill of Rights applied solely to the federal government, and therefore, states were not bound to uphold these rights. The case centered around a dispute where the petitioner, Barron, claimed that his property was deprived without just compensation, as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. The decision underscored the original intention of the Bill of Rights, which was meant to address tyranny from a centralized government rather than to impose restrictions on states.

14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment was enacted during the Reconstruction era because Congress was distrustful of the states—especially the Southern states—to protect the civil rights of newly freed enslaved individuals. This amendment aimed to ensure that all states respect the Bill of Rights and provide equal protection under the law. The Incorporation Doctrine is a legal concept that emerged from this amendment, referring to the process of applying most of the Bill of Rights protections to the states through the 14th Amendment's due process and equal protection clauses.

The case of Gitlow v. New York established a significant precedent wherein the states must recognize and uphold the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Additionally, McDonald v. Chicago illustrated the modern application of the Bill of Rights' protections at the state level, specifically focusing on the Right to Bear Arms as per the Second Amendment, thus expanding the interpretation and influence of these rights throughout the United States.

First Amendment

Religious Freedom

The First Amendment's provision for religious freedom includes two crucial clauses:

• Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing an official religion and mandates a separation of church and state, preventing any favoritism towards one religion over another.

• Free Exercise Clause grants individuals the right to practice their religion freely, provided their practices do not violate public order or safety.

For instance, Engel v. Vitale ruled that government-directed prayer in public schools violated the Establishment Clause, showing the extent to which the government must remain neutral in religious matters.

Freedom of Speech

The boundaries of freedom of speech are sometimes defined by limitations, such as in Schenck v. United States, where the Supreme Court established that speech presenting a "clear and present danger" is not protected under the First Amendment. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the Court recognized that student protests and symbolic speech are protected forms of expression, emphasizing that rights do not cease at the school gates. Moreover, Texas v. Johnson reaffirmed the protection of expressive conduct, such as flag burning, highlighting the First Amendment's broad scope.

Freedom of the Press

The First Amendment also protects freedom of the press, although certain constraints apply, such as issues concerning Prior Restraint, and the distinction between slander (spoken defamation) and libel (written defamation). The Miller Test serves as a contemporary standard for determining whether certain material is obscene and thus not protected under the First Amendment.

Freedom of Assembly

Freedom of assembly permits individuals to gather publicly for protests and demonstrations. The Supreme Court case Skokie v. Illinois ruled that municipalities cannot prohibit assemblies based solely on the content of the speech; regulation can only concern time, place, and manner of the assembly, ensuring that the right to assemble is preserved.

Freedom of Association

The right to associate with groups is implicit within the freedom of assembly framework. The NAACP case recognized that preventing assembly undermines the ability to associate freely, thus reinforcing the right to come together for collective rights and purposes.

Second Amendment

In Heller v. District of Columbia, the Supreme Court recognized an individual's right to bear arms independent of service in a militia and applied this right against the states, reaffirming the interpretation that the Second Amendment protects personal firearm ownership.

Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. In Mapp v. Ohio, the Supreme Court ruled that the Exclusionary Rule prevents illegally obtained evidence from being admitted in court, reinforcing the necessity of adhering to procedural rules in law enforcement activities. If evidence is obtained in violation of a search warrant or goes beyond its intended scope, the evidence is also excluded.

Fifth Amendment

Notably, the Fifth Amendment establishes safeguards against double jeopardy and protects individuals’ rights to remain silent—often referred to as "pleading the Fifth." The landmark case Miranda v. Arizona resulted in the requirement that individuals in police custody be informed of their rights, now known as Miranda rights, ensuring that suspects are aware of their entitlements and the implications of self-incrimination.

Sixth Amendment

The Sixth Amendment guarantees rights related to due process, stressing the right to a fair trial, the right to counsel, and even the right to insist on a jury trial. Gideon v. Wainwright expanded this by ensuring the right to a public attorney for defendants unable to afford legal representation. The concept of plea bargaining, where defendants may accept reduced charges to avoid harsher sentences, also stems from this understanding, although it raises concerns about innocent individuals perceiving no viable option but to accept deals.

Right to Privacy

While not explicitly stated in the Constitution, the right to privacy is interpreted from various amendments and has significant implications, especially concerning personal autonomy and abortion rights, as emphasized in cases like Roe v. Wade.

Right to Equality

The Right to Equality is strongly rooted in the 14th Amendment, emphasizing equal protection under the law. The Declaration of Independence’s assertion that "all men are created equal" initially served as a normative principle. The Dred Scott decision established that African Americans could be considered property rather than citizens. Plessy v. Ferguson institutionalized the "separate but equal" doctrine, which was later overturned by Brown v. Board of Education, affirming that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and served as a touchstone for the Civil Rights Movement, pushing for broader political participation and civil rights.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legislation such as the Civil Rights Act aimed to eliminate discrimination on various fronts, including in voting through the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed literacy tests and the grandfather clause that perpetuated disenfranchisement of minorities and poor individuals of all races.

15th Amendment

The 15th Amendment prohibits discrimination in voting based solely on race, endeavoring to uphold the principle of democracy and representation for all citizens irrespective of their racial backgrounds.

Hernandez vs. Texas

This case ensured that juries must adequately represent the community of the defendant, ruling that all-white juries tried against African American or Latino defendants constituted unfair judicial practices.

Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment showcases the challenges of passing constitutional amendments aimed at protecting the rights of women, emphasizing societal resistance to gender equality legislation.

Three Levels of Scrutiny

In judicial review, there are three levels of scrutiny that courts apply to determine the constitutionality of laws:

• Low Scrutiny: Applied to laws affecting non-fundamental rights (example: minimum age for drinking or driving).

• Intermediate Scrutiny: Requires a careful examination of the specifics of the case and the justification for the law.

• Strict Scrutiny: Applied to laws that infringe on fundamental rights or discriminate based on race, requiring the state to demonstrate a compelling interest in enforcing the law.

Obergefell vs. Hodges

Obergefell v. Hodges affirmed the constitutional right for same-sex marriages to be recognized across all states, marking a significant victory for LGBTQ+ rights and equality under the law.