Chapter 4 & 5: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Flashcards
A law originally created to uphold a religious or moral standard, such as a prohibition against selling alcohol on Sundays
Blue law
Limitations on the power of government, designed to ensure personal freedoms
Civil liberties
Guarantees of equal treatment by government authorities
Civil rights
A right of the people rooted in legal tradition and past court rulings, rather than the Constitution
Common-law right
A person who claims the right to refuse to preform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion
Conscientious objector
A prosecution pursued twice at the same level of government for the same criminal action
Double jeopardy
Provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that limit government power to deny people “life, liberty, or property” on an unfair basis
Due process clause
The right of individuals to obtain, use, and trade things of value for their own benefit
Economic liberty
The power of government to take or use property for a public purpose after compensating its owner; also known as the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment
Eminent domain
The provision of the Firth Amendment that prohibits the government from endorsing a state-sponsored religion; interpreted as preventing government from favoring some religious beliefs over others or religion over non-religion
Establishment clause
A requirement, from Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio, that evidence obtained as a result from an illegal search or seizure cannot be used to try someone for a crime
Exclusionary rule
The provision of the First Amendment that prohibits the government from regulating religious beliefs and practices
Free exercise clause
A statement by law enforcement officers informing a person arrested or subject to interrogation of his or her right
Miranda warning
Acts or statements that are extremely offensive by contemporary standards
Obscenity
A law passed by Congress in the wake of 9/11 attacks that broadened federal powers to monitor electronic communications; the full name is the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act)
Patriot Act
An agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor in which the defendant pleads guilty to the charge(s) in question or perhaps to less serious charges, in exchange for more lenient punishment than if convicted after a full trial
Plea bargain
A government action that stops someone from doing something before they are able to do it (e.g., forbidding someone to publish a book he or she plans to release)
Prior restraint
Legal standard for determining whether a search or seizure is constitutional or a crime has been committed; a lower threshold than the standard of proof needed at a criminal trial
Probable cause
The right to be free of government intrusion
Right to privacy
A legal document, signed by a judge, allowing police to search and/or seize persons or property
Search warrant
The gradual process of making someone guarantees of the Bill of Rights (so far) apply to state governments and the national government
Selective incorporation
An action or statement that admits guilt or responsibility for a crime
Self-incrimination
A standard for deciding whether a law violates the free exercise clause; a law will be stuck down unless there is a “compelling governmental interest” at stake and it accomplishes its goal by the “ least restrictive means” possible
Sherbert test
A form of expression that does not use writing or speech but nonetheless communicates an idea (e.g., wearing an article of clothing to show solidarity with a group)
Symbolic speech
A means of deciding whether a law that makes it harder for women to seek abortions is constitutional
Undue burden test
The use of programs and policies designed to assist groups that have historically been subject to discrimination
Affirmative action
The Native American civil rights group responsible for the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1973
American Indian Movement (AIM)
Laws passed immediately after the Civil War that discriminated against freed slaves and other blacks and deprived them of their rights
Black codes
The 1945 Supreme Court ruling that struck down Plessy v. Ferguson and declared segregation and “separate but equal” to be unconstitutional in public education
Brown v. Board of Education
A term adopted by some Mexican American civil rights activists to describe themselves and those like them
Chicano
An action taken in violation of the letter of the law to demonstrate that the law is unjust
Civil disobedience
A doctrine calling for the same pay for workers whose jobs require the same level of education, responsibility, training, or working conditions
Comparable worth
A legal status of married women in which their separate legal identities were erased
Coverture
Segregation that results from the private choices of individuals
De facto segregation
Segregation that results from government discrimination
De jure segregation
Civil rights campaigns that directly confronted segregationist practices through public demonstrations
Direct action
The revocation of someone’s right to vote
Disenfranchisement
A provision of the Fourteenth Amendment that requires the states to treat all residents equally under the law
Equal protection clause
The proposed amendment to the Constitution that would have prohibited all discrimination based on sex
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
An invisible barrier caused by discrimination that prevents women from rising to the highest levels of an organization - including corporations, governments, academic institutions, and religious organizations
Glass ceiling
The provision in some southern states that allowed illiterate whites to vote because their ancestors had been able to vote before the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified
Grandfather clause
Harassment, bullying, or other criminal acts directed against someone because of bias against that person’s sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity, or disability
Hate crime
The standard used by the courts to decided cases of discrimination based on gender and sex; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate an important governmental interest is at stake in treating men differently from women
Intermediate scrutiny
State and local laws that promoted racial segregation and undermined black voting rights in the south after Reconstruction
Jim Crow laws
Tests that required the protective voter in some states to be able to read a passage of text and answer questions about it; often used as a way to disenfranchise racial or ethnic minorities
Literacy tests
The 1896 Supreme Court ruling that allowed “separate but equal” racial segregation under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
Plessy v. Ferguson
Annual tax imposed by some states before a person was allowed to vote
Poll tax
The standard used by the courts to decide most forms of discrimination; the burden of proof is on those challenging the law or action to demonstrate there is no good reason for treating them differently from other citizens
Rational basis test
The period from 1865 to 1877 during which the governments of Confederate states were reorganized prior to being readmitted to the Union
Reconstruction
A bar in Greenwich Village, New York, where the modern Gay Pride movement began after rioters protested the police treatment of the LGBT community there
Stonewall Inn
The standard used by the courts to decide cases of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion; burden of proof is on the government to demonstrate a compelling governmental interest is at stake and no alternative means are available to accomplish its goals
Strict scrutiny
The section of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex
Title IX
The name given to the forced migration of the Cherokees from Georgia to Oklahoma in 1838-1839
Trail of Tears
Tests requiring prospective voters in some states to be able to explain the meaning of a passage of text or to answer questions related to citizenship; often used as a way to disenfranchise black voters
Understanding tests
A primary election in which only whites are allowed to vote
White primary
CC
What is the difference between civil rights and civil liberties?
Liberties are limitations placed on government, while rights curb the power of majorities.
CC
Once a liberty is incorporated into one state…
It is automatically incorporated into all states.
CC
Substantive liberties _______, while procedural liberties _________.
Limit what the government can do, limit how the government can act
CC
In what year was the Bill of Rights added to the constitution?
1789
CC
Which of the following types of speech are protected?
Political speech
Symbolic speech
Hate Speech
CC
What does freedom of speech intended to do?
Protect you from the government trying to do anything to curb your speech.
CC
You can advocate overthrowing the government.
True, EXCEPT where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent action and is likely to produce such action.
CC
Burning the American flag is a protected form of free speech.
True
CC
Which of the following is a true statement about protected classes?
The court will step in to protect groups that are unable to protect themselves in the legislative process because it would be too hard for them to pass laws in their favor.
CC
Which of the following is used by the courts when protected classes are concerned?
Strict scrutiny
CC
________ is the lowest level of court scrutiny.
Rational basis
CC
What constitutes civil rights changes over time.
True
CC
Freedom of the press is absolute!
False
CC
Which of the following is a challenge when talking about modern day press?
How the Internet, and information published to the Internet, fits in
CC
Which of the following is sometimes an exception to freedom of the press?
National secutiy
CC
________ is a published false statement.
Libel
CC
A synonym for censorship is
Prohibition
CC
A _________ is a piece of paper issued by a judge which authorizes the police to search something, generally for a specific thing in a specific place.
Warrant
CC
The Police can engage in a reasonable search without a warrant.
True
CC
The exclusionary rules states that
Unlawfully obtained evidence is excluded from a trial.
CC
Courts have rules that students don’t have the same protections as other citizens and that the interest of the state in keeping a safe, drug, and weapon-free educational environment, trumps their privacy interest.
True
CC
Select all of the following that are examples of searches and seizures:
Breathalyzers
Drug tests
CC
Procedural due process deals with which of the following?
Determining if the government acted properly in the application of its power.
CC
Double jeopardy is unlawful because
It would be unfair if states were allowed to try you for a crime over and over until they received the verdict they wanted.
CC
Which of the following is associated with self-incrimination?
I plead the fifth!
CC
Which of the following is associated with self-incrimination?
I plead the fifth!
CC
Which of the following cases dealt with the reading of rights upon arrest?
Miranda v Arizona
T
The Fourteenth Amendment requirement for a warrant_____.
Does not apply when there is a serious risk that evidence will be destroyed before warrant can be issued.
T
The Equal Protection clause became part of the Constitution as a result of______.
The Fourteenth Amendment
