	AP Government - Vocabulary Unit 3 - Civil Liberties & Civil Rights

	1st Amendment	protects freedom of religion, press, speech, petition the government, and assembly.
	2nd Amendment	protects right to bear arms (states/cities cannot ban the ownership of guns altogether, but can have restrictions as to who can own and which weapons).
	3rd Amendment	government can't quarter soldiers in homes during peacetime without consent of owner.
	4th Amendment	protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, requires probable cause for a warrant
	5th Amendment	government cannot take life, liberty or property without due process of law, right against self-incrimination (don't have to testify against yourself), double jeopardy, grand jury.
	6th Amendment	right to an attorney, be informed of charges, confront witnesses, have witnesses on your behalf, speedy and public trial.
	8th Amendment	forbids cruel and unusual punishment (although it does not define this phrase), bans excessive fines and excessive bail.
	9th Amendment	protection of certain rights does not necessary preclude others (i.e. right of privacy is not in the constitution, but Supreme Court says it exists and has existed before Constitution enacted).
	13th Amendment	abolished slavery.
	14th Amendment	citizenship if born in the U.S., due process of law applies to the states (thus incorporating the Bill of Rights against the states), equal protection of the law.
	15th Amendment	suffrage cannot be denied on the basis of race.
	19th Amendment	women's suffrage
	17th Amendment	Direct election of senators
	23rd Amendment	DC residents vote get electoral college votes for president
	24th Amendment	banned poll taxes (which had been designed to keep Blacks from voting).
	26th Amendment	suffrage for those 18 and older
	Affirmative Action	A policy, which was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2023, which required federal agencies, universities, and some other employers to take positive steps to remedy the effects of past discriminations, by giving preference in hiring/admission to members of groups that have historically been discriminated against.
	Americans with Disabilities Act	1990: strengthened protections of individuals with disabilities by requiring employers and public facilities to make “reasonable accommodations” and prohibiting employment discrimination against people with disabilities. An "unfunded mandate" because federal gov't ordered it, but provided no funding for it.
	Bill of Rights	the first ten Amendments to the Constitution passed after ratification specifically protecting individual liberties to fulfill promises made by the Federalists to the Anti-Federalists in return for their support.
	Civil Liberties	Legal and Constitutional protections against government infringement of political liberties and crimial rights.
	Civil Rights	Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals. Includes prohibiting discrimination based on race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
	Civil Rights Act of 1964	forbids discrimination in public accommodations and facilities (i.e. restaurants, hotels, etc.). Congress has power to regulated because Necessary and Proper Clause - it affects interstate commerce)
	Clear and Present Danger Test	Judicial interpretation of the First Amendment that government can ban speech that creates an imminent threat to society.
	Commercial Speech	communication in the form of advertising. Not entitled to as much protection as political speech
	Cruel and unusual punishment	8th Amendment prohibits such punishment.
	Defamation	false or malicious statements that damage someone’s reputation (can be sued for defamation). Libel: written defamatory statement. Slander: spoken defamatory statements.
	Equal Protection of the Laws	provided by the 14th Amendment mandating that all people be protected by the law. As part of reconstruction amendments, applied to race, but also used to apply to discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, etc.
	Equal Rights Amendment	This proposed amendment was first proposed in 1923, passed by Congress in 1972, but was not ratified by three-fourths of the states; thus it NEVER became an amendment to the U.S. Constituition. This amendment mandated equality of rights under the law regardless of gender.
	Establishment Clause	A provision of the 1st Amendment that prohibits Congress from establishing an official government-sponsored religion, supporting one religion over another, or supporting religion over non-religion.
	Free Exercise Clause	A provision of the 1st Amendment that guarantees each person the right to believe what he or she wants; however, it is not absolute and thus, does not protect all religious acts (i.e. smoking marijana).
	Free Expression	This term does NOT appear in the Constitution, but it is used to describe the freedom on speech. Do not confuse it with the Free Exercise Clause which is about the Freedom of Religion.
	Grandfather Clause	This allowed people to vote if their grandfather had been allowed to vote. It was designed to allow poor whites to vote if eliminated by poll taxes or literacy tests), but not Blacks, as their grandfathers had not been allowed to vote. Modern use of the term indicates that someone is allowed to continue to do something even though it has now been made illegal (i.e. 18, 19 & 20 year olds "grandfathered in" when drinking age moved from 18 to 21).
	Incorporation Doctrine	legal concept under which the Supreme Court has nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the 14th Amendment. Selective Incorporation means that Supreme Court made each right apllicable to the states on a case-by-case basis.
	Literacy tests	enacted to limit the right to vote; designed to hurt former slaves/poor Blacks. Banned by the Votings Rights Act of 1965.
	Miranda Warnings	Warnings that police must read to suspects prior to questioning that advises them of their rights.
	Plea Bargaining	A negotiation struck between the defendant’s lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchange for the state’s promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious (or additional) crime. 95% of criminal actions end in a plea bargain due to the strain of time and money that trials put on our legal system.
	Political Speech	Entitled to the most protection by the 1st Amendment, essential in order to ensure a free exchange of ideas in a democratic form of government.
	Poll Taxes	taxes levied on the right to vote designed to hurt poor Blacks.
	Prior restraint	government instrument to prevent material from being published. (censorship of press only allowed if a matter of national security)
	Probable cause	it must be "probable" that someone have committed a crime for police to arrest someone; get a warrant to search their person, belongings, or home; or for a grand jury indictment.
	Right of Privacy	Not expressly listed in the constitution, but inferred by the Supeme Court from other rights. Protects right to use birth control,consensual sexual relationships, etc. Extreme conservatives and strict constitutional constructionists argue that this right does not exist, and is instead a product of judicial activism.
	Search Warrant	written authorization from a court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching for, issued by a judge/magistrate upon probable cause.
	Selective Incorporation	The case-by-case process by which liberties listed in the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states using the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Thus, the 3rd Amendment still hasn't been incorporated because we haven't had a case of a state violating the right against quartering soldier's in a home).
	Strict Scrutiny	Supreme Court rule that classification by race and ethnic background is inherently suspect and must be justified by a "compelling public interest" and is it the "least restrictive means" for achieving that interest.
	Symbolic Speech	political actions instead of words (i..e. armband, t-shirt, burning American flag, etc.)
	Voting Rights Act of 1965	Policies/Procedures designed to reduce the barriers to voting for those suffering discrimination (African-Americans); eliminated literacy tests,required federal oversight of voting and approval of voting changes in Southern states/counties where discrimination in voting was prevalent.
	White Primary	practice where only Whites could vote in primaries.

AP Gov Unit 3 Vocab