Ch 4-Civil Liberties-Protecting Individual Rights

Question 1

Anderson versus Creighton 1987(premise)

Answer 1

Local police and FBI broke into the Creighton home.Brandishing guns,officers searched the house for a relative of the Creightons who was suspected of bank robbery. When asked, the officers refused to show a warrant. The suspect was not there and the officers left as abruptly as they had entered.
The Creightons sued the FBI agent in charge,Russell Anderson for violating their 4th Amendment rights against unlawful search.

Question 2

What constitutional right did the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit take into account in Anderson versus Creighton?

Answer 2

The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit noted that individuals are constitutionally protected against warrantless searches unless officers have probable cause to search or have circumstances for conducting that search without a warrant.

Question 3

How did the finding of US Circuit Court of Appeals differ from the US Supreme Court’s finding in Anderson versus Creighton?

Answer 3

The Creightons won in the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit which concluded that Anderson should have sought a warrant from a judge.
But
The US Supreme Court overturned the Eighth Circuit’s ruling with the Court’s majority opinion stating that it was inevitable for law enforcement officials to in some cases reasonably but mistakenly conclude that probable cause is present and that in such cases those officials shouldn’t be held responsible.

Question 4

What are civil liberties?

Answer 4

Fundamental individual rights of a free society, such as freedom of speech and the right to a trial by jury, which in the United States are protected by the Bill of Rights

Question 5

What is the Bill of Rights?

Answer 5

The first 10 amendments of the Constitution which set forth basic protections for individual rights to free expression, fair trial, and property.

Question 6

When were the first ten amendments enacted?

Answer 6

1791

Question 7

What is an example of a test applied in the area of free speech?

Answer 7

Whether general rules, such as restrictions on the time and place of a public gathering, are applied fairly to all groups.

Question 8

What is the most basic of democratic rights?

Answer 8

Freedom of speech

Question 9

What does due process of law referred to refer to?

Answer 9

Legal protections, primarily procedural safeguards designed to ensure that individual rights are respected by the government.

Question 10

During the last half century in particular, how have the civil liberties of individual Americans changed, ? What amendment has been significant in the change?

Answer 10

The civil liberties of individual Americans have been broadened in law and given greater judicial protection from action by all levels of government. The Supreme Courts use of the 14th amendment has been significant to protect the individual rights from action by state and local governments.

Question 11

What is the judiciary’s role/relationship with individual rights?

Answer 11

Individual rights are constantly being weighed against the demands of majorities and the collective needs of society, the judiciary is the institution that is most partial to the protection of civil liberties.

Question 12

What is freedom of expression?

Answer 12

Americans’ freedom to communicate their views, the foundation of which is the First Amendment rights to freedom of conscience speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Question 13

What are some times that freedom of speech can be denied?

Answer 13

when it endangers national security, wrongly damages the reputations of others, or deprives others of their basic freedoms

Question 14

How does the First Amendment provide for freedom of expression?

Answer 14

By prohibiting laws that would abridge the freedoms of conscience,speech, press common assembly, and petition.

Question 15

How was Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr relevant?

Answer 15

He was nominated for the Supreme Court in 1901 by President Theodore Roosevelt answers for more than three decades. As a leading intellectual force on the court and though an advocate of judicial restraint he argued that the law had to keep pace with society and he helped lay the foundation for an interpretation of the First Amendment that limited governments ability to restrict free expression.

Question 16

What was the first legislative attempt by the US government to restrict free expression? How did Thomas Jefferson respond?

Answer 16

The Sedition Act of 1798, which made it a crime to print false or malicious newspaper stories about the President or other national officials. It happened during John Adams presidency and upon replacing John Adams Thomas Jefferson pardoned those who have been convicted under it.

Question 17

Why was Schenck vs the United States (1919) important?

Answer 17

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the 1917 espionage act was constitutional and Oliver Wendell Holmes argued that not even the First Amendment would permit a person to falsely yell fire in a crowded theater.

Question 18

What is the clear-and-present-danger test?

Answer 18

A test devised by the Supreme Court in 1919 in order to define the limits of free speech in the context of national security. According to the test, government cannot abridge political expression unless it presents a clear and present danger to the nation’s security.

Question 19

How did the world wars change free expression?

Answer 19

Since the wars, Americans’ right of free expression has been have been largely defined in the context of national security concerns.

Question 20

What tendency does the USA PATRIOT Act example side exemplify?

Answer 20

The government’s powers of surveillance and attention have been expanding, narrowing the legal protections provided to people even remotely suspected of having ties to terrorist activity.

Question 21

How did the Cold War affect free speech?

Answer 21

During the Cold War the Supreme Court allowed government to play substantial limits on free expression.

Question 22

What is an example of limits placed on freedom of speech during the Cold War?

Answer 22

in 1951 the court upheld the convictions of 11 members of the US Communist Party who would been prosecuted under a law that made it illegal to express support for the force will overthrow the US government.
(Dennis v. U.S)

Question 23

What was the legal doctrine first outlined by Justice Harlan Fiske Stone in 1938 the supreme court later implicitly agreed with? How has it affected Freedom of Expression?

Answer 23

Stone argued that the First Amendment rights of free expression are the basis of American liberty and ought to have a “preferred position in the law. If government can control what people know and say, it can manipulate their opinions and thereby deprive them of the right to decide for themselves how they will be governed. Therefore government should be broadly prohibited from restricting free expression”. This philosophy has let the Supreme Court to rule that the government officials must show that national security is directly and substantially imperiled before they can lawfully prohibit citizens from speaking out or assembling.

Question 24

What is symbolic speech?

Answer 24

Actions such as waving or burning a flag for the purpose of expressing a political opinion.

Question 25

How has the Supreme Court’s protection of symbolic speech differed from that of verbal speech?Give an example

Answer 25

Supreme Court’s protection of symbolic speech is less substantial.For example the court in 1968 upheld the conviction of a Vietnam protester who had burned his draft registration card and the court also said that the government can prohibit action that threatens will look to them it public interest as long as the main purpose of the policy is not to restrict free expression report concluded that the federal law prohibiting the destruction of gas cards was designed primarily to protect the military’s need for soldiers notch prevent people from criticizing government policy.

Question 26

What is an example of the Supreme Court protecting symbolic speech?

Answer 26

In 1989 Texas vs Johnson the court ruled that the burning of the American flag is a protected form of free expression. The court ruled that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society find the idea offensive or disagreeable. The court also later struck down a new federal statute that would make it a federal crime to burn or deface the flag.

Question 27

New York Times vs United States (1971)

How is it an example of judicial support for freedom of the press?

Answer 27

New York Times vs United States (1971)
Court ruled that the Department of Justice could not block the publication of the “Pentagon Papers” even though the DoJ claimed that it would hurt the war effort.
-The Court ruled that any system of prior restraints on the press was unconstitutional unless the government could clearly justify the restriction.

Question 28

What is prior restraint?

Answer 28

Government prohibition of speech or publication before it happens, which is presumed by the courts to be unconstitutional unless the justification for it is overwhelming.

Question 29

When have courts upheld the government’s authority to ban publication?

Answer 29

The reporting on U.S military operations during wartime.The courts have allowed government censorship of reports filed by journalists granted access to the battlefront.
-and banning uncensored publications by past/current government employees who have taken part in classified national security activities.

Question 30

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

-What does this case have to do with the Bill of Rights?

Answer 30

A wharf owner sued the city of Baltimore for taking his property without compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the constitution
-The court ruled that the Bill of Rights does not apply to state and local government, only to Federal government.

Question 31

How did cases like Barron v. Baltimore (1833) affect average Americans?

Answer 31

Such cases caused the Bill of Rights to have little practical meaning because state and local governments carry out most of the activities in which people’s rights are at issue.

Question 32

Due process clause (of the 14th amendment)

Answer 32

The clause of the Constitution that was used by the judiciary to apply the Bill of Rights to state government action.
-The clause forbids states from depriving people of life,liberty, or property without due process of law.

Question 33

When was the 14th amendment ratified?

Answer 33

1868

Question 34

When did the Supreme Court decide that the 14th amendment applied to state action in regards to free speech?

Answer 34

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Question 35

Gitlow v. New York

Answer 35

Gitlow published a communist manifesto for distribution in the United States. He was charged with plotting to overthrow the United States government.
-The court upheld his conviction (making it illegal to advocate violent overthrow) but also ruled that the states weren’t completely free to limit expression(they also incorporated the 14th amendment’s due process clause)

Question 36

Selective Incorporation

Answer 36

The incorporation of certain provisions of the Bill of Rights(ie speech) into the 14th amendment so that those rights are protected from state infringement

Question 37

What do Fiske v. Kansas, Near v. Minnesota,Hamilton v.Regents, University of California, and DeJonge v. Oregon have in common?

Answer 37

Those 4 cases enabled the court to invalidate state laws restricting free speech within a dozen years.

Question 38

Fiske v. Kansas (1927)

-Which constitutional right was at issue?

Answer 38

(1927) Syndicalism Act was called “an arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of the police power of the State”. Solidified importance of Due process clause.
- Free speech

Question 39

Near v. Minnesota(1931)

-Which constitutional right was at issue?

Answer 39

A Minnesota law that “gagged” a periodical from publishing derogatory statements about local public officials was held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States

• Censorship is unconstitutional except in rare cases
• Free press

Question 40

Hamilton v. Regents, University of California(1934)

-Which constitutional right was at issue?

Answer 40

the Court upheld the “right of California to force its university students to take classes in military training” and reiterated that “instruction in military science is not instruction in the practice or tenets of a religion.”
-freedom of religion

Question 41

Dejonge v. Oregon(1937)

-Which constitutional right was at issue?

Answer 41

DeJonge was at a communist function

-Freedom of assembly and of petition

Question 42

Brandenburg v. Ohio(1969)

How did it limit states’ authority to restrict free speech?

Answer 42

Leader of the KKK made a speech at a rally threatening violent overthrow of the government (violation of Ohio syndicalism act)
-Court ruled speech can be prohibited if it is “directed at inciting or producing imminent lawless action” and it is likely to incite or produce such action.

Question 43

Imminent lawless action test

Answer 43

A legal test that says government can’t lawfully suppress advocacy that promotes lawless action unless such advocacy is aimed at producing, and likely to produce, imminent lawless action

Question 44

R.A.V v City of St. Paul, Minnesota(1992)

Answer 44

R.A.V. was indicted for burning a cross on the yard of an African-American neighbor. R.A.V was charged under the St. Paul Bias-Motivated Crime Ordinance that prohibited certain conduct that caused resentment in others based on race, color, creed or religion.
-Court struck down the ordinance as unconstitutional, violent speech is protected, violent crimes are not

Question 45

Wisconsin v. Mitchell(1993)

Answer 45

the Court ruled that a state may consider whether a crime was committed or initially considered due to an intended victim’s status in a protected class.
-the Wisconsin law providing for increased hate crime sentences was challenged but upheld by the court because it was aimed at conduct rather than speech

Question 46

Nationalist Socialist Party of America v. village of Skokie (1977)

Answer 46

Nazis wanted to march through a predominantly Jewish area with Nazi outfits
-The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the use of the swastika is a symbolic form of free speech entitled to First Amendment protections and determined that the swastika itself did not constitute “fighting words.” Its ruling allowed the National Socialist Party of America to march.[5]

Question 47

Libel

Answer 47

Publication of material that falsely damages a person’s reputation

Question 48

Slander

Answer 48

spoken words that falsely damage a person’s reputation

Question 49

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

Answer 49

Sullivan, police commissioner sued the New York Times for printing an advertisement about the civil rights movement in the south that defamed him
-The constitutional guarantees require a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with actual malice – that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

Question 50

How does libel and slander differ among regular citizens and public figures?

Answer 50

Public figures choose to put themselves in public and expose themselves to more so the stakes for a libel/slander case has to be a lot higher

Question 51

Roth v. United States (1957)

Answer 51

Roth (pornographer) was charged with violating the federal law against obscenity
-The court ruled that
Obscenity is a type of unprotected speech. Obscene material deals with sex in a manner that is appealing to the prurient interest and is of no social value.

Question 52

Miller v. California (1973)

Answer 52

Miller’s conviction for mailing advertisements for “adult” books to unwilling recipients was vacated and remanded in an effort to shift the burden of obscenity determinations to the state and local courts.
-the court ruled that in determining whether speech is obscene, the basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be:1.whether “the average person, applying contemporary community standards” would find the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest of sex, 2.whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and 3. whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literacy, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Question 53

Stanley vs. Georgia(1969)

Answer 53

what adults read and watch in the privacy in their own homes is not a crime

Question 54

What is an exception to the ruling of Stanley v Georgia?

Answer 54

Osborne v. Ohio(1990)

Question 55

Osborne v. Ohio(1990)

Answer 55

Court made the possession of child porn illegal, the purchase of such becomes an incentive for its production which is illegal

Question 56

Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition(2002)

Answer 56

held that pictures of adults digitally altered to look like children can’t be banned because no children were used in it’s production

Question 57

Telecommunications Act of 1996 (CDA),

Answer 57

aimed to let anyone enter any communications business and let any communications business compete in any market against any other.
The legislation’s primary goal was deregulation of the converging broadcasting and telecommunications markets

Question 58

Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA),

Answer 58

was title v of the telecommunications act , it attempted to regulate both indecency (when available to children) (through cable providers)and obscenity in cyberspace by making it illegal to transmit obscene material to a minor or posting obscene content in a way that makes it available to minors

Question 59

Reno v American Civil Liberties Union(1997)

Answer 59

Two provisions of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) that CRIMINALIZED providing obscene materials to minors through the internet were held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States
-the court ruled that where a content-based blanket restriction on speech is overly broad by prohibiting protected speech as well as unprotected speech, such restriction is unconstitutional.

Question 60

How did congress respond to Reno v ACLU

Answer 60

Child Online Protection Act(COPA) of 1998, defined indecency according to “contemporary community standards”

Question 61

Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004)

Answer 61

Internet content providers and civil liberties groups sued the United States Attorney General, claiming that Child Online Protection Act (COPA) violated their First Amendment rights. They seeked preliminary injunction of enforcement.
-the court blocked enforcement of that law

Question 62

When did England’s Glorious/bloodless Revolution take place?

What did it result in?

Answer 62

1689

-It resulted in The Act of Toleration, which gave members of all Protestant sects the right of free worship

Question 63

What did John Locke argue about free expression?

Answer 63

That legitimate government could not inhibit free expression, religious or otherwise.

Question 64

What did the first amendment do for religion?

Answer 64

It separated church and state/nation

Question 65

How does the 14th amendment affect religion?

Answer 65

It prohibits laws aimed at “the establishment of religion” (establishment clause) and it’s free-exercise (free exercise clause) by states and localities

Question 66

Establishment Clause

Answer 66

the first amendment provision that government can’t favor one religion over another, or favor religion over lack thereof. It prohibits congress from passing laws related to the establishment of religion

Question 67

Zelman vs Simmons-Harris(2002)

Answer 67

Cleveland public schools were performing badly, and in an effort to resolve this issue, the state of Ohio put into effect a school voucher plan under which parents could opt to enroll their children in private schools taking part in the program. Since a great majority of the private schools were affiliated to one or other religious group, Ohio taxpayers filed an action against the program pleading violation of the Establishment Clause.
-The court ruled that it didn’t because the students had a choice between secular and religious education

Question 68

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Answer 68

ruled it unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools.

Question 69

Wallace v. Jaffree(1985)

Answer 69

Court declared an Alabama law permitting public schools to set aside time for prayer/meditation unconstitutional

Question 70

Free-exercise clause

Answer 70

First amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion or prohibiting the exercise of free religion

Question 71

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Answer 71

Supreme court ruled that Wisconsin couldn’t compel Amish parents to send their kids to school past the 8th grade because of the free-exercise clause

Question 72

When did the UN General Assembly adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

Answer 72

1948

Question 73

What does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights state?

Answer 73

That it recognizes the inherent dignity of all cultures is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
Its list of rights includes life,liberty,property,speech,religion and freedom from law enforcement based oppression

Question 74

Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)

Answer 74

The Supreme court held that Louisiana’s Creationism Act that required evolution be taught if “creation science” was taught and vice versa violated the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution

Question 75

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Answer 75

challenged a state law prohibiting the use of contraception, the supreme court concluded that the right to privacy is implicitly protected by the constitution

Question 76

Roe v. Wade (1937)

Answer 76

a pregnant mother wished to obtain an abortion and sued on behalf of all woman similarly situated in an effort to prevent the enforcement of Texas statutes criminalizing all abortions except those performed to save the life of the mother.
-Court ruled that statutes that make criminal all abortions except when medically advised for the purpose of saving the life of the mother are an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.

Question 77

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services(1989)

Answer 77

upheld a Missouri law that imposed restrictions on the use of state funds, facilities, and employees in performing, assisting with, or counseling on abortions. The Supreme Court in Webster allowed for states to legislate in an area that had previously been thought to be forbidden under Roe v. Wade.

Question 78

Planned Parenthood v. Casey(1992)

Answer 78

the constitutionality of several Pennsylvania state regulations regarding abortion were challenged. The Court’s plurality opinion upheld the constitutional right to have an abortion in the earliest months and ruled that a state can impose regulation so long as they don’t place “undue burden” on women seeking an abortion.

Question 79

Stenberg v. Carhart (2000)

Answer 79

doctor who performs abortions attempted to have a Nebraska statute preventing partial birth abortions deemed unconstitutional.
The court ruled that all statutes restricting abortion must allow an exception for the life and health of the mother.

Question 80

Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003

Answer 80

banned partial birth abortion regardless of risk to the woman’s health

Question 81

How has the supreme court’s stance on homosexual relations changed?

Answer 81

In Bowers v Hardwick (1986) states could prohibit gay sex but in Lawrence and Garner v Texas(2003) the court overturned Texas law and Bowers v Hardwick on the basis of its violation of privacy rights

Question 82

What is the Supreme Court’s stance on physician assisted suicide?

Answer 82

It holds that the 14th amendment doesn’t include the right to suicide but that states have the authority to permit it.

Question 83

Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (1994)

Answer 83

made it unlawful to block abortion clinic entrances or preventing people from entering
-upheld as it is preventing action rather than speech

Question 84

Procedural Due Process

Answer 84

constitutional requirement that government must follow proper legal procedures before a person can be legitimately punished for an alleged offense

Question 85

article 1 section 9 of the Constitution

Answer 85

any person taken into police custody is entitled to seek a writ of habeas corpus, which requires law enforcement officials to bring the suspect into court and to specify the legal reason for the detention.

Question 86

Fourth Amendment

Answer 86

forbids the police to conduct searches and seizures unless they have probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed

Question 87

Fifth Amendment

Answer 87

protects against double jeopardy(being prosecuted twice for the same offense) self incrimination(being compelled to testify against oneself) indictment for a crime except through a grand jury proceedings, and loss of life, liberty, and property without due process of law.

Question 88

6th amendment

Answer 88

provides the right to have legal counsel, to confront witnesses, to receive a speedy trial, and to have a trial by jury in criminal proceedings

Question 89

8th amendment

Answer 89

protects against excessive bail or fines and prohibits the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment on those convicted of crimes

Question 90

Mapp v. Ohio

Answer 90

police officers sought a bombing suspect and evidence of the bombing at the house of miss mapp. After failing to gain entry on an initial visit, the officers returned with what purported to be a search warrant, forcibly entered the residence, and conducted the search and which obscene materials were discovered.
The court ruled that all evidence discovered as a result of a search and seizure conducted in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution would be inadmissible in state court proceedings

Question 91

Gideon v. Wainwright

Answer 91

required the safe to furnish attorneys for poor defendants in all felony cases.Clarence Gideon, and indignant grifter had been convicted and sentenced to prison in Florida for breaking into a pool room. He successfully appealed on the ground that he had been denied due process because he could not afford to pay an attorney.

Question 92

Miranda versus Arizona 1966

Answer 92

the Supreme Court overturned Miranda’s conviction on the grounds that he had not been informed of his right to remain silent and to have legal assistance.

Question 93

Dickerson versus United States 2000

Answer 93

Supreme Court reaffirmed the Miranda decision and that because of it established a constitutional rule it was not subject to change with legislative of action.

Question 94

Missouri. V. siebert 2004

Answer 94

further strengthened the Miranda precedent in response to a police strategy in questioning suspects first and then reading them their Miranda rights, followed by a second round of questioning.the court concluded that the strategy was not permissible.

Question 95

prompt and reasonable proceedings

Answer 95

provision of the 6th amendment that states that you have a right to be arraigned promptly, to be informed of the charges, to confront witnesses, and to have a speedy and open trial by an impartial jury.

Question 96

Indianapolis v. Edmund. 2001

Answer 96

court held that narcotics roadblocks, because they serve a general law enforcement purpose rather than one specific to highway safety, violate the Fourth Amendment’s requirement that police have suspicions of wrongdoing before they can search an individual’s auto.

Question 97

2001 Kyllo versus us

Answer 97

the court ruled that police may not use a thermal imaging device in order to detect whether and usual heat sources are located in the home. The court held that police cannot enter a home without a warrant based on suspicion of wrongdoing and that searches based on modern technology most meet the same standard.

Question 98

Ferguson versus Charleston 2001

Answer 98

court held that patients in public hospitals cannot be forced to take a test for illegal drugs of the purpose is to turn over to the police those patients that test positive.

Question 99

Board of Education of Independent School District number 92 of patella tonly County versus Earls 2002

Answer 99

court held that random drug testing of high school students involved in extracurricular activities does not violate the ban on unreasonable searches

Question 100

exclusionary rule

Answer 100

the legal principle that government is prohibited from using in trials evidence that was obtained by unconditional means, for example, illegal search and seizure

Question 101

Whren v. u.s

Answer 101

upheld the conviction of an individual would been found with drugs in the front seat of his car. The police had no evidence or probable cause indicating that drugs were in the car, but they suspected that the driver was involved in drug dealing in the used a minor traffic infraction as a pretext to stop and check him.the Supreme Court accepted the fence arguments of the police had no clear evidence for the suspicion, but the traffic infraction was not the real reason than we do., and that police usually do not stop a person for the instructions in question.however, the court concluded that the officers motive was irrelevant, as long as an officer in some situation might reasonably stop a car for the infection that occurred. Thus, the stop and search action was deemed to the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness standard.

Question 102

how has the Supreme Court’s stance on the exclusionary rule changed?

Answer 102

from 1914 the exclusionary rule broadened and from 1984 word it was diminished

Question 103

U.s v drayton (2002)

Answer 103

the court upheld the conviction of two bus passengers who has been found with cocaine after voluntarily agreeing to the police search. They were not told of their right to refuse to search, and their attorneys argued the evidence was therefore inadmissible. The Supreme Court said that the police are not required by the Fourth Amendment to advise passengers of their right to refuse consent to searches. However, the court also said the police cannot tell passengers they must admit to a search and cannot threaten them into permitting one.