Chapter 4 Flashcards
Areas of personal freedom constitutionally protected from government interference.
Civil Liberties
Obligation imposed on government to take positive action to protect citizens from all illegal action of government agencies and of other private citizens.
Civil Rights
A court order demanding that an individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention.
Habeas Corpus
The right of every citizen against arbitrary action by national or state governments.
Due Process of Law
One of three civil war amendments; it guaranteed equal protection and due process.
14th Amendment
The process by which different protections in the Bill of Rights were incorporated into the 14th Amendment.
Selective Incorporation
The First Amendment clause that says that :Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”, this law means that a “wall of separation” exists between church and state.
Established Clause
The 1st Amendment clause that protects a citizen’s right to believe and practice whatever religion one chooses.
Free Exercise Clause
A test used by the Supreme Court in racial discrimination cases and other cases involving civil liberties and civil rights that places the burden of proof on the government rather than on the challengers to show that the law in question is constitutional.
Strict Scrutiny
Test to determine whether speech is protected or unprotected, based on its capacity to present a “clear and present danger” to society.
Clear and Present Danger
peech accompanied by conduct such as sit-ins, picketing, and demonstrations; protection of this from of speech under the First Amendment is conditional, and restrictions imposed by state or local authorities are acceptable if properly balanced by considerations of public order.
Speech Plus
An effort by a governmental agency to block the publication of materials it deems libelous or harmful in some other way; censorship; in the US, the courts forbid prior restraint except under the most extraordinary circumstances.
Prior Restraint
A written statement made in “reckless disregard of the truth” that is considered damaging to a victim because it is “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory”.
Libel
An oral statement made in “reckless disregard of the truth” that is considered damaging to the victim because it is “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory”
Slander
Speech that directly incites damaging conduct.
Fighting Words
The ability of courts to exclude evidence obtained in violation of the 4th Amendment.
Exclusionary Rule
Jury that determines whether sufficient evidence is available to justify a trial; grand juries do not rule on the accused’s guilt or innocence.
Grand Jury
The 5th Amendment right providing that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime.
Double Jeopardy
The requirement, articulated by the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona (1966), that persons under arrest must be informed prior to police interrogation of their rights to remain silent ad to have the benefit of legal council.
Miranda Rule
The right of government to take private property for public domain.
Eminent Domain
One of 3 civil war amendments; abolish slavery.
13th Amendment
1 of 3 civil war amendments; it guaranteed voting rights for African American.
15th Amendment
Provision of the 14th amendment guaranteeing citizens “the equal protection of the laws”; this law has served as a basis for the civil rights of African American, women, and other groups.
Equal Protection Clause
Doctrine that public accomodations could be segregated by race but still be equal.
Separate but Equal Rule
The 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine as fundamentally unequal; this case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion for discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to intervene by exercising strict regulatory policies against discriminatory actions.
Brown v. Board of Education
Literally, “by law”; legally enforced practices, such as a school segregation in the South before the 1960s.
De Jure
Literally, “by fact”; practices that occur even when there is no legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the US today.
De Facto
Government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of these groups with access to educational and employment opportunities.
Affirmative Action
