Chapter 4

Question 0

Civil rights

Answer 0

The government protected rights of individuals against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by governments or individuals

Question 1

Civil liberties

Answer 1

The personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge by law, Constitution or judicial interpretation

Question 2

Bill of Rights

Answer 2

The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution which largely guarantee specific rights and liberties

Question 3

Ninth amendment

Answer 3

Part of the Bill of Rights that makes it clear that enumerative rights in the Constitution or Bill of Rights does not mean that others do not exist

Question 4

10th amendment

Answer 4

The final part of the Bill of Rights that defines the basic principle of American federalism and stating that the powers not delegated to the national government are reserved to the states or to the people

Question 5

Due process clause

Answer 5

Clause contained in the fifth and 14th amendments over the years, it has been constructed to guarantee a variety of rights to individuals

Question 6

Substantive due process

Answer 6

Judicial interpretation of the fifth and 14th amendments due process clauses that protects citizens from arbitrary or unjust state or federal laws

Question 7

Incorporation doctrine

Answer 7

An interpretation of the Constitution holding that the due process clause of the 14th amendment requires state and local government to guarantee the rights stated in the Bill of Rights

Question 8

Selective incorporation

Answer 8

A judicial doctrine whereby most, but not all protections found in the Bill of Rights are made applicable to the states via the 14th amendment

Question 9

Fundamental freedoms

Answer 9

Those rights defined by the court as essential to order liberty and justice and therefore entitled to a higher standard of review

Question 10

First Amendment

Answer 10

Part of the bill of rights that imposes a number of restrictions on the federal government with respect to civil liberties, including freedom of religion speech press assembly and petition

Question 11

Establishment clause

Answer 11

The first clause of the first amendment; it directs the national government not to sanction an official religion

Question 12

Free exercise clause

Answer 12

The second clause of the First Amendment prohibits the US government from interfering with a citizens right to practice his or her religion

Question 13

Lemon test

Answer 13

Three-part test created by the Supreme Court for examining the constitutionality of religious establishment issues

Question 14

Prior restraint

Answer 14

Constitutional doctrine that prevents the government from prohibiting speech or publication before the fact generally held to be in violation of the First Amendment

Question 15

Clear and present danger test

Answer 15

Test articulated by the Supreme Court in Schenck vs US (1919) to draw the line between protected and unprotected speech; the court looks to see “whether the words used” could “create a clear and present danger that they will bring about substantiative evils that congress seeks” to prevent

Question 16

Direct incitement test

Answer 16

Test articulated by the Supreme Court in Brandenburg versus Ohio 1969 holding that the First Amendment protects advocacy of illegal action unless imminent lawless action is intended and likely to occur

Question 17

Symbolic speech

Answer 17

Symbols signs and other methods of expression generally considered to be protected by the First Amendment

Question 18

Hate speech

Answer 18

Any communication that belittles a person or group on the basis of characteristics

Question 19

Libel

Answer 19

False written statement that defames a person’s character

Question 20

Slander

Answer 20

Untrue spoken statements that defame the character of a person

Question 21

New York Times versus Sullivan 1964

Answer 21

Case in which the Supreme Court concluded that actual malice must be proven to support a finding of libel against a public figure

Question 22

Fighting words

Answer 22

Words that “by their very utterance inflict I hurt or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace.” Fighting words are not subject to the restrictions on the first amendment

Question 23

Writs of habeas corpus

Answer 23

Petition requesting that a judge order authorities to prove that a prisoner is being held lawfully and that allows the prisoner to be freed if the government case does not persuade the judge. Habeas corpus rights imply that prisoners have a right to know what charges are being made against them

Question 24

Ex post facto law

Answer 24

Law that makes an act punishable as a crime even if the action was legal at the time it was committed

Question 25

Bill of attainder

Answer 25

A law declaring an act illegal without a judicial trial

Question 26

Fourth amendment

Answer 26

Search and seizure of property

Question 27

Fifth Amendment

Answer 27

Right to a trial if accused, no self-incrimination required, no double jeopardy ( you cannot be tried twice for the same crime) , right to compensation for taking by government

Question 28

Miranda versus Arizona 1966

Answer 28

A landmark Supreme Court ruling holding that the fifth amendment requires individuals arrested for a crime to be advised of their right to remain silent and to have counsel present

Question 29

Miranda rights

Answer 29

Statements required of police that inform a suspect of his or her constitutional rights protected by the fifth amendment, including the right to an attorney provided by the court if the suspect cannot afford one

Question 30

Double Jeopardy Clause

Answer 30

Part of the fifth amendment that protects individuals from being tried twice for the same offense in the same jurisdiction

Question 31

Exclusionary rule

Answer 31

Judicially created rule that prohibits police from using illegal seized evidence at trial

Question 32

Sixth amendment

Answer 32

Right to a speedy trial by jury and confrontation of witnesses

Question 33

Eighth amendment

Answer 33

Prohibits cruel and unusual punishment

Question 34

Right to privacy

Answer 34

The right to be left alone; a judicially created principle encompassing a variety of individual actions protected by the penumbras cast by several constitutional amendments, including the first, third, fourth, ninth, and fourteenth amendments

Question 35

Roe versus Wade (1973)

Answer 35

The Supreme Court found that a woman’s right to an abortion was protected by the right to privacy that could be implied from a specific guarantees found in the bill of rights applied to the states through the 14th amendment