Exam Notes: The Courts, Civil Liberties, & Civil Rights

The Judiciary (Chapter 9)

• Alexander Hamilton considered the Judiciary the "Least Dangerous Branch" because it lacks the power of the purse (Congress) and the sword (President), focusing on interpreting laws.

Basic Vocabulary

• Jurisdiction: The authority of a court to hear and decide a case.
• Trial Courts: Courts that hear case facts for the first time (Original Jurisdiction).
• Appellate Courts: Courts that review lower court decisions (Appellate Jurisdiction).
• Federal judges are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate (Checks and Balances).

Marbury vs. Madison

• Established judicial review: the Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional.
• Significance: Cemented the Supreme Court's role in shaping U.S. law and overseeing other branches.

Impact of Judicial Decisions

• Precedents: Past judicial decisions guide future cases.
• Stare Decisis: Courts should follow precedents; lower courts are bound by higher court precedents.
• Judicial Review: Courts can declare laws/actions from other branches unconstitutional.

Dual Court System

• Federal Courts
  • 3 Tiers: District Courts, Courts of Appeals, Supreme Court
• State Courts
  • 3-tiered structure
  • Handles most cases nationwide

Trial Courts (Original Jurisdiction)

• US District Court
  • About 340,000 cases per year
  • Types of Cases:
    • Federal government is a party
    • Federal law involved
    • Diversity: Parties from different states, value exceeding 75,000
  • Most other cases start in state courts.
• State Trial Courts
  • About 65 million cases per year
  • Cases under state law start here.
  • Appeals can be made to higher courts if errors occurred.

Rule: All cases go to state court unless it meets one of federal court requirements:

1. Federal Government is a party
2. Federal law is involved
3. Diversity: a person in one state suing someone in another state for more than 75,000

US Court of Appeals (Appellate Jurisdiction)

• Hears appeals from U.S. District Courts & administrative agencies.
• 13 Separate Courts - 179 Judges (as of 2022)
• About 42,000 cases a year

State Supreme Court (Appellate Jurisdiction)

• “Court of Last Resort” for most state appeals
• Around 40,000 cases a year

Intermediate Appellate Courts (Appellate Jurisdiction)

• Structure varies by state.
• About 160,000 appeals a year (as of 2022)

US Supreme Court (Appellate Jurisdiction)

• About 80 cases a year
  • 80% from US Appeals Courts
  • 20% from State Supreme Courts
• Original Jurisdiction
  • Very limited and rare
  • Specific cases defined in Article III

How SCOTUS Decides Cases

• Writ of Certiorari: SCOTUS orders a lower court to review a decision.
• Parties apply for Writ of Cert, SCOTUS decides whether to grant it.

Judicial Philosophies

• Judicial Restraint: Courts should avoid making policy, defer to legislature.
• Judicial Activism: Courts should actively shape national policies, willing to overrule other branches.
• Strict Constructionist: Judges interpret the Constitution according to its original meaning.

Civil Liberties (Chapter 4)

• Bill of Rights

Overview

• The Bill of Rights initially applied only to the federal government, not the states.
• Today, states must observe the rights outlined in the BoR due to the Doctrine of Incorporation.

Incorporation

• Incorporation Doctrine: SCOTUS applies Bill of Rights protections to states via the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.
• Selective Incorporation: Applying specific Bill of Rights protections to states case-by-case.

Religious Freedom – First Amendment

• Establishment Clause: Prohibits government from establishing an official religion or favoring one over others.
  • Ensures separation between church and state.
• Free Exercise Clause: Protects individuals’ rights to freely practice their religion without undue government interference.

Establishment Clause Cases

• Lemon v. Kurtzman: Established the Lemon Test to determine Establishment Clause violations.
  • The test asks if the law:
    • has a secular purpose
    • advances or inhibits religion, and if
    • excessively entangles the government with religion.
• Engel v. Vitale: Non-denominational, voluntary prayers in public schools are government endorsement of religion and violate the Establishment Clause.
• Santa Fe School District v. Doe: Student-led prayers at public school football games violate the Establishment Clause, as they amount to state-sponsored religious activity.

Free Exercise Cases

• Reynolds v. U.S.: Individuals are free to believe in any religion – but their practices can be restricted if they violate public law – upheld law against polygamy even thought it was a tenant of the Mormon faith.
• Wisconsin v. Yoder: Amish parents could remove their children from school after 8th grade for religious reasons - the state's interest in compelling school attendance did not outweigh the Amish community's right to practice their faith.
• Oregon Employment Division v. Smith: Allowed state to deny unemployment benefits to individuals who were fired for using peyote as part of a religious ceremony
  • Rule: Laws that generally applicable and do not target religious beliefs do not need to make exceptions for religious practices.

First Amendment – Free Speech

• The Court balances individual's rights to express themselves freely with the government's interest in maintaining public order, safety, and protecting other rights.
• The Court generally does not allow prior restraint (preventing speech before it occurs) except in VERY rare cases with a compelling government interest.
• Time, place, and manner restrictions are permitted if they are content-neutral and serve a legitimate government purpose.

Protected Speech

• Symbolic Speech: Non-verbal expressions, such as flag burning or wearing armbands, are protected under the First Amendment.
• Political Speech: Speech related to political matters, including government criticism and discussions of policies, which is highly protected by the First Amendment.
• Hate Speech: Speech that may be offensive or hateful but does not incite imminent violence. Generally protected unless it incites illegal action.

Unprotected Speech

• Fighting Words: Speech that incites immediate violence or hatred and is not protected because it has a direct potential to provoke harm.
• Obscenity: Material that is deemed sexually explicit and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
• Libel and Slander: False and defamatory statements that damage a person's reputation. These are not protected by the First Amendment.
• Direct Incitement: Speech intended and likely to provoke imminent lawless action

Free Speech/Press Case Law

• NYT v. Sullivan (1964): Established the actual malice standard for libel cases involving public officials.
  • Major victory for press freedom
  • Public officials must show the reporters either KNEW statement was false or showed reckless disregard for the truth.

Second Amendment Cases

• DC v. Heller: Affirmed an individual's right to possess firearms for self-defense.
• McDonald v. Chicago: Incorporated the Second Amendment to apply to state governments.

Rights of Criminal Defendants

• Fourth Amendment: Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
• Fifth Amendment: Provides protections against self-incrimination and double jeopardy.
• Sixth Amendment: Guarantees a fair and speedy trial, right to an attorney.
• Eighth Amendment: Prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

4th Amendment - Basics

• Reasonable Search = Warrant or Exception
• Warrant: Based on probable cause – must demonstrate to a judge a reasonable belief that crime has been committed or evidence will be found.
• A search without a warrant is presumptively unreasonable (and unconstitutional) unless an exception applies.
• Exceptions:
  • Exigent Circumstances (e.g., immediate danger or destruction of evidence)
  • Consent (when an individual voluntarily agrees to the search)
  • Search Incident to Arrest (searching a person or their immediate area after an arrest)
  • Plain View Doctrine (evidence visible without a search)

4th Amendment Cases

• Mapp v. Ohio (1961): Established the Exclusionary Rule, which prevents evidence obtained through illegal searches and seizures from being used in court
• Katz v. U.S. (1967): Expanded Fourth Amendment protections to include reasonable expectation of privacy, ruling that wiretaps require a warrant even for public phone booths.
• Terry v. Ohio (1968): Allowed police to conduct stop-and-frisk searches with reasonable suspicion, even without a warrant, to ensure public safety.
• US v. Jones (2012): Held that attaching a GPS device to a suspect's vehicle without a warrant constitutes an unreasonable search, violating the Fourth Amendment.

5th Amendment - Basics

• The 5th Amendment provides several protections for individuals involved in legal proceedings.

• Key Provisions:

  • Self-Incrimination: Cannot be forced to testify against yourself
  • Double Jeopardy: Can’t be tried for the same offense twice.
  • Due Process: Ensures fair treatment through the judicial system and protection from arbitrary government actions.
  • Eminent Domain: Requires fair compensation when the government takes private property for public use.

5th Amendment Cases

• Miranda v. Arizona: Established Miranda rights, requiring police to inform suspects of their rights before questioning.
• Michigan v. Mosely: Held that that once a suspect invokes their right to remain silent, police must honor that request, and they cannot continue questioning unless the suspect voluntarily waives their rights.
• Edwards v. Arizona: Ruled that once a suspect invokes their right to counsel, they cannot be interrogated without an attorney present

Right to Privacy

• Constitutional Provisions: The Supreme Court cites the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and various Bill of Rights amendments as implying a right to privacy.

Privacy Cases

• Griswold v. Connecticut: Recognized a right to privacy in marital relations and struck down a law banning contraceptives.
• Lawrence v. Texas: Struck down laws banning homosexual conduct, citing privacy rights.
• Roe v. Wade: Established a woman's right to an abortion.
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: Overturned Roe v. Wade, returning abortion rights to individual states – unclear on its implications for other privacy cases

Civil Rights (Chapter 5)

• Freedom from Discrimination

Civil Rights vs. Civil Liberties

• Civil rights protect individuals from discrimination and ensure equal treatment under the law.
• Civil liberties protect individual freedoms from government interference, such as freedom of speech and religion.

Constitutional & Legal Protections for Civil Rights

• Constitution:
  • The 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause prevents government discrimination by ensuring that states cannot deny equal protection under the law to any person.
• Statutes:
  • Statutes protect individuals from discrimination by private entities, ensuring equal treatment in areas like employment, housing, and public accommodations.

Key Civil Rights Amendments

• Thirteenth Amendment: Abolished slavery.
• Fourteenth Amendment (Equal Protection Clause): Guarantees equal protection under the law.
• Fifteenth Amendment: Granted voting rights regardless of race.
• Nineteenth Amendment: Granted women the right to vote.

Key Civil Rights Cases

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Upheld government racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine.
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Overturned Plessy, declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Key Civil Rights Laws

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: Banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and education based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin by both public and private entities.
• Equal Pay Act of 1963: Addressed gender-based wage disparities in employment by requiring equal pay for equal work.
• Title IX: Prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities, ensuring equal opportunities for men and women in schools and universities.
• Equal Rights Amendment: Proposed amendment to guarantee gender equality under the law, aiming to eliminate gender-based discrimination in all areas of life (NOTE: Never Enacted)

More Civil Rights Cases

• McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020): Affirmed Native American sovereignty, ruling much of eastern Oklahoma remains tribal land for criminal law.
• Korematsu v. U.S. (1944): Upheld wartime internment of Japanese Americans, later widely criticized and overturned.
• Lawrence v. Texas (2003): Struck down laws banning same-sex intimacy, affirming the right to privacy.
• Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): Legalized same-sex marriage nationwide under the 14th Amendment.

Interpreting the Equal Protection Clause

• Basic Premise: Laws that classify people – or treat people differently based on a specified characteristic – trigger the Equal Protection cause.

• Standards of Review: Different classifications of people (e.g., race, gender) trigger different levels of review. Suspect Classifications:

• Categories of people who have historically faced significant discrimination, such as race, ethnicity, or national origin.

• Laws that make distinctions based on these factors are subject to the highest level of scrutiny.
  Lower levels of scrutiny apply to other classifications

Equal Protection Clause Standards of Review