Government Quiz 4

Constitution Articles: IV, V, VI, and VII

• Article 4: states’ rights

• Article 5: amendments can exist

• Article 6: constitution is supreme law of land, cannot be overturned by state laws

• Article 7: required 9/13 states to ratify constitution, New Hampshire was the 9th state.

Civil Liberties: the limits on government that allow people to freely exercise their rights

Equality v/s Liberty:

• Equality is “likeness or sameness in quality, power, status or degree.”

• Liberty is freedom to pursue choices

• The more equal a society becomes, the less freedoms and rights the individual has.

14th amendment

• No State shall – deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Selective Incorporation

• extending protections from the Bill of Rights to the state governments, one right at a time, once challenged in court

Penumbra

• A group of rights derived, by implication, from other rights explicitly protected by the Bill of Rights

Emanation

• Rights that come from the precedent of other constitutional amendments

Roe v/s Wade

• The most significant case regarding privacy

• About the penumbra right to privacy being broad enough to cover abortions

Planned Parenthood v/s Casey (1992)

• Protected the right to abortion, but rejected the first trimester restriction

Judicial Rule

• A strict boundary of what the law does and does not allow

Judicial Standard

• Guiding principle that helps make governments decide what is right or wrong legally

Establishment Clause

• Government may not establish an official religion

Free Exercise Clause

• Government may not interfere with religious practices

Lemon Test

• Law must have a secular purpose

• Law must not hinder or encourage religious expression

• Law must not be extensively entangling government with religion

Freedom of Speech

• Freedom of speech, but consequences may ensue

Clear & Present Danger

• Speech that presents a clear and present danger that will lead to harm in some way

Political Speech

• Politicians want to subvert negative press

Symbolic Expression

• An act, rather than actual speech, used to demonstrate a point of view

Miller Test

• 1)  Is the speech (written, verbal, or expressed) meant to be sexually stimulating?

• ​2)  The speech depicts sexual conduct in an offensive way.

• ​3)  The speech lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Rights to Bear Arms

• Fundamental argument in American society

• Right to protect against government

Search & Seizure

• Warrant or Verbal Consent is almost always necessary

Right to Trial

• You have a right to a fair and speedy trial. 5th amendment.

• Grand Jury: group of people who look at the present evidence against someone and determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to trial.

• Double Jeopardy: the inability of any prosecutor to keep trying someone for the same crime again and again until they get a conviction.  

• Miranda Warning: “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.  If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be provided for you by the state.  Do you understand these rights as they have been explained to you?”

• Right to Council: right to a lawyer, if you cannot afford one you will be appointed one (public defender)

Gideon v/s Wainwright

• Right to council enabled by Gideon, who could not afford a lawyer and was sent to prison. Supreme Court ruled this was unconstitutional.