Chapter 13: Civil Liberties Flashcards
- What are civil liberties?
Civil liberties are the boundary between us and the government. They prevent government action that will affect you unless they can provide sufficient reasoning. It can also be considered to be freedom from the government and its intrusive nature. Civil rights are not the same as civil liberties as they are separate concepts but they both do define boundaries for the government.( civil liberties could also be what the government is required to do).
- Why do individual states have constitutions while at the same time, the US Constitution
governs the states?
All states have their own constitutions or expressed rights because the US constitution only protects you from the federal government. Meaning federal government agents can’t take your guns away, but if your state doesn’t give you the right to bear arms the state agents can confiscate them. Because of the 14 the amendment made US liberties in the constitution apply to the states, but only selectively.
- What is selective incorporation? How is the 14th Amendment related to the due process clause? Describe the basis for and outcome of the key cases related to selective incorporation (especially Mapp v Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright).
Selective incorporation is the role of the court to selectively apply some provision in the bill of rights to the state, on a case-by-case basis. This means that an individual has to challenge the state that a federal right should also be a state right. The 14th amendment made it so that the liberties listed in the bill of rights applied to the state as well even if the state doesn’t have them included. Mapp v Ohio essentially established the 4th amendment in all states after Mapp was tried with evidence that was illegally obtained.
- What are the two parts of the religion clause of the 1st Amendment? What do these protect? What do they “not” protect?
The first is the the establishment clause which means Congress can’t support one specific religion. It also does not allow for the US to create it’s own church, and no religious activities at school. The second is the exercise clause which prohibits the US from prohibiting free exercise of religion. But it doesn’t allow anyone to do whatever they want and claim its for their religion.
- What is the relevance of the Lemon v. Kurtzman case?
Lemon case created the lemon test to see if religion goes too far in its role. The test claims that the role of a religion must be secular in purpose, can’t primarily inhibit or advance a religion, and have “excessive entanglement”. This basically put standards that religions have to watch out for in their activities, as well as the individuals.
- Describe the basis for and outcome of the key cases related to the free exercise of religion (esp. Sherbert v. Verner, Employment Division v. Smith).
Sherbert v. Verner case, like the Lemon case, established a test to see at which level the supreme ocurt evaluates dicrimination dealing with religion. This made it so that the nation cant burden religious practices unless it can be proven that it will benefit national security. While the Employment Division v. Smith calse moved away from the sherpert test to a Neautrality test. Which claimed that no one could take illicit drugs and call it free exercise. GIving the government quit a bit of leeway but Congress told the supreme court to go back to the Sherptert test and arguments flew between the two.
- Describe the basis for and outcome of the key cases related to the 1st Amendment’s speech protection (esp. Brandenberg v. Ohio, but all speech cases).
Schenck v. US case create a clear and present danger test which specified that if a clear and present danges is created by the speech it can limited or if bad for national security during a war or emergency. Brandebrugh v. Ohio affirmed that if speech incites an imminent lawles action and its likely for that action to occur then it may also be regulated.
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire rule that words that incite violence can be limited.
Cohen v. California protected symbolic speech, which is speech that is not verbal but could be considered a form of protest.
- What are the major limitations on the 1st Amendment’s speech protections? (i.e., what
is not covered/protected?)
Fighting words that suggest direct and immediate violence or threat of it are not protected. The written false, malintentioned defamation of a person’s character that harms their livliedhod is not protected, libel, and well as spoken, slander.
Obscenity is also not protected but it is hard to say what is or isn’t slander, thus the SLAPS test was made. If obscene speech is not serious, literary, artistic, political, or scientific then it is NOT protected.
- How did the Court find protection for an individual right to privacy? What does this
right to privacy protect?
Through court cases such as the Griswold case. This protected you from the governing intruding in your private life and business. But since it’s not written in the constitution the penumbra of rights was created by using aspects in the bill of rights that alluded to the liberty of privacy. This protects you from the government obtaining information on you illegally and outlawing consensual sex from any party ( barring pedophilia of course that’s illegal).
- What is the difference between procedural due process and substantive due process?
Procedural due process is all the things the government must do that are listed in the 5th amendment before they can take away your life, liberty, and whatnot. Substantive is due process that helps you when the procedural was not hurting you, but privacy was breached. This goes beyond the constitution to protect us, making it so that the government can’t withhold protections just because it’s not written in the constitution.
