Ch.4 Caiou Dowds Flashcards
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman, politician, and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis.
Abolitionists
a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery.
Alien and sedition acts
four laws passed by the Federalist-dominated 5th United States Congress and signed into law by President John Adams in 1798.
bill of attainder
an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them, often without a trial.
bill of rights
the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
Black lives matter
an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people
burger court
the Supreme Court of the United States from 1969 to 1986, when Warren Burger served as Chief Justice of the United States.
capital cases
a prosecution case for murder in which a jury is asked to decide whether a defendant should be put to death, if found guilty. A prosecutor must charge special circumstances in order to sentence a defendant to death.
civil liberties
A.K.A. personal freedoms are personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge, either by law or by judicial interpretation, without due process.
Clear and present danger test
a doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States to determine under what circumstances limits can be placed on First Amendment freedoms of speech, press, or assembly.
DeJonge v. Oregon
a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause applies to freedom of assembly.
Direct incitement test
Brandenbrug vs Ohio, that holds that advocacy of illegal action is protected by the 1st amendment unless imminent lawless action is intended and likely to occur. Term. -symbolic speech
double jeopardy clause
Jeopardy attaches in jury trial when the jury is empaneled and sworn in, in a bench trial when the court begins to hear evidence after the first witness is sworn in, or when a court accepts a defendant’s plea unconditionally.
due process clause
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution each contain a due process clause. Due process deals with the administration of justice and thus the due process clause acts as a safeguard from arbitrary denial of life, liberty, or property by the government outside the sanction of law
due process rights
Due process is the legal requirement that the state must respect all legal rights that are owed to a person. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual person from i
earl warren
an American jurist and politician who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States and earlier as the 30th Governor of California.
8th Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
18th amendment
the only amendment to be repealed from the constitution. This unpopular amendment banned the sale and drinking of alcohol in the United States. This amendment took effect in 1919 and was a huge failure.
espionage act
a United States federal law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code but is now found under Title 18, Crime.
establishment clause
prohibits the establishment of religion by Congress.
exclusionary rule
a law that prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence in a criminal trial.
ex post facto law
a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law.
1st amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
14th amendment
ratified in 1868, defining national citizenship and forbidding the states to restrict the basic rights of citizens or other persons.
15th amendment
granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
fighting words
written or spoken words intended to incite hatred or violence from their target. Specific definitions, freedoms, and limitations of fighting words vary by jurisdiction.
free exercise clause
The following religious civil liberties are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
fundamental freedoms
freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of belief, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 8, 1925, that the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection of free speech, which states that the federal “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech,” applied also to state governments.
Grand jury
A grand jury is a jury – a group of citizens – empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings and investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify.
Hate speech
a statement intended to demean and brutalize another. It is the use of cruel and derogatory language, gestures or vandalism often directed towards an individual or group.
Incorporation doctrine
the doctrine by which portions of the Bill of Rights have been made applicable to the states.
lemon test
The three-part test enunciated in Lemon v. Kurtzman is used to assess whether a law violates the Establishment Clause. The “Establishment Clause” was intended to prevent any governmental endorsement or support of religion.
libel
Defamation, calumny, vilification, or traducement is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of, depending on the law of the country, an individual, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation.
miranda rights
a type of notification customarily given by police to criminal suspects in police custody advising them of their right to silence; that is, their right to refuse to answer questions or provide information to law enforcement or other officials.
Miranda v. Arizona
A mug shot of Ernesto Miranda, whose wrongful conviction led to the landmark case Miranda v. Arizona, in which the Court held that detained criminal suspects must be informed of their rights prior to police questioning.
Miller v. California
Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court wherein the court redefined its definition of obscenity from that of “utterly without socially redeeming value” to that which lacks “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value”.
New York Times Co. v. Sullion
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that established the actual malice standard that must be met for press reports about public officials to be considered libel. The decision defended free reporting of the civil rights campaigns in the southern United States.
New York Times Co. v. U.S.
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713, was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the First Amendment. The ruling made it possible for The New York Times and The Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment
9th amendment
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Occupy Wall Street
a left-wing protest movement that began on September 17, 2011, in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City’s Wall Street financial district, against economic inequality
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the constitutionality of several Pennsylvania state statutory provisions regarding abortion was challenged
Prior Restraint
Judicial suppression of material that would be published or broadcast, on the grounds that it is libelous or harmful. In US law, the First Amendment severely limits the ability of the government to do this.
Right to privacy
an element of various legal traditions to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 150 national constitutions mention the right to privacy.
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), is a landmark decision issued in 1973 by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of the constitutionality of laws that criminalized or restricted access to abortions.
sedition laws
overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent towards, or resistance against established authority
selective incorporation
a constitutional doctrine that ensures states cannot enact laws that take away the constitutional rights of American citizens that are enshrined in the Bill of Rights. At its heart, selective incorporation is about the ability of the federal government to limit the states’ lawmaking powers.
September 11th
DescriptionThe September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001
6th amendment
section of the Bill of Rights that guarantees a citizen a speedy trial, a fair jury, an attorney if the accused person wants one, and the chance to confront the witnesses who is accusing the defendant of a crime.
Slander
the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation.
Substantive due process
a principle allowing courts to protect certain fundamental rights from government interference, even if procedural protections are present or the rights are not specifically mentioned elsewhere in the US Constitution
Symbolic speech
a legal term in United States law used to describe actions that purposefully and discernibly convey a particular message or statement to those viewing it
10th amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The crown v. Zenger
A case in point involved John Peter Zenger (1697-1746), a German immigrant who had come to American as an apprentice printer. By 1735, Zenger had become the editor of the New York Weekly Journal and developed a reputation for sympathy with the popular side of public issues.
undue burden test
a shorthand to a collection of similar-sounding, but legally distinct, standards invoked in various areas of United States constitutional law.
warren court
the period in the history of the Supreme Court of the United States during which Earl Warren served as Chief Justice. Warren replaced the deceased Fred M. Vinson as Chief Justice in 1953, and Warren remained in office until he retired in 1969.
warren E. Burger
the 15th Chief Justice of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul College of Law in 1931. He helped secure the Minnesota delegation’s support for Dwight D. Eisenhower at the 1952 Republican National Convention.
Whole woman´s health v. Hellerstedt
Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, 579 U.S. ___, is a landmark United States Supreme Court case decided on June 27, 2016. The Court ruled 5–3 that Texas cannot place restrictions on the delivery of abortion services that create an undue burden for women seeking an abortion.
Writ of habeas corpus
a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, to bring the prisoner to court, to determine whether the detention is lawful
Civil Rights
a class of rights that protect individuals’ freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one’s entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of the society and state without discrimination or repression.
4th amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
