Ch 4 - Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Flashcards
affirmative action
government policies or programs that seek to address past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of these groups with access to educational and employment opportunities
Bill of Rights
the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which guarantee certain rights and liberties to the people
bills of attainder
laws that decree a person guilty of a crime without a trial
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
the 1954 supreme Court decision that stuck down the “seperate but equal” doctrine as fundamentally unequal. This case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion of discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to intervene by exercising stric tregulatory poliicies against discriminatory actions
civil liberties
areas of personal freedom with which governments cannot interfere
civil rights
legal or moral claims that citizens are entitled to make on govenrment
“clear and present danger” test
test to determine whether speech is protected or unprotected based on its capacity to present a “clear and present danger” to society
de facto
literally “by fact”; pracitcies that occur even when there is no legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the United States today
de jure
literally “by law”; legally enforced practices, such as school segregation in the South before the 1960s
double jeopardy
the fifth amendment right providing that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crim
dual citizenship
the status of being governed by both the US federal government and the individual state’s government
due process of law
the right of every citizen to be protected against arbitrary action by national or state government
eminent domain
the right of government to take private property for public use
equal protection clause
provision of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing citizens “the equal protection of the laws” this clause has served for the basis for the civil rights of African Americans, womena nd other groups
establishment clause
the first amendment clause that syas that “congress shall make no law respecticing an establishment of religion”. This means that a “wall of separation” exists between church and state
exclusionary rule
the ability of courts to excluse evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment
ex post facto laws
laws that declare an action to be illegal after it has been committed
Fifteenth Amendment
one of three civil war amendments; guaranteeing voting rights for African American men
fighting words
speech that directly incites damaging conduct
Fourteenth Amendment
one of three Civil War amendments; guaranteed equal protection and due process
free exercise clause
the first amendment clause that protects a citizen’s right to believe and practice whatever religion he or she chooses
grand jury
jury that determines whether sufficient evidence is available to justiy a trial; grand juries do not rule on the accused’s guilt or innocence
habeas corpus
a court order demanding that an individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention
incorporation
the process by which court decisions have required the states to follow parts of the Bill of Rights based on the use or application of the Fourteenth Amendment
libel
a written statement, made in “reckless disregard of the truth,” which is considered damaging to a victim because it is “malicious, scandalous and defamatory”
Miranda rule
the requirement, articulted by the supreme court in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) , that persons under arrest nmust be informed prior to police interrogation of their rights to remain silent and to have the benefit of legal counsel
preferred freedoms
certain protections in the Bill of Rights, such as free speecha dn free press, that are considered even more important than other freedoms
Prior restraint
an effor by a govenrmental agency to block the publication of material it deems libelous or harmful in some other way; censorship. In the United States, the courts forbid prior restraint except under the most extraordinary of circumstances
right to privacy
the right to be left alone, which has been interpreted to entail free access to birth control and abortions
“seperate but equal” rule
doctrine that public accomodations could be segregated by race but still be equal
slander
an oral statement, made in “recklass disregard of the truth” which is considered damaging to the victim because it is “malicious, scandalous and defamatory”
speech plus
speeh acoompanied by conduct or physcial acitvity sucha sit=ins, picketing and demonstrations; protections of this form of speech under the First Amendment is conditional and restictions imposed by state or local authorities are acceptable is properly balanced by considerations of public order
strict scrutiny
test, used by the Supreme Court in racial discrimination cases and other cases involving civil liberties and civil rights, which places the burden of proof on the government rather than on the challengers to show that the law in question is constitutional
Thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery after the civil war.
