Chapter 4 Vocab: Civil Liberties: Protecting Individual Rights Flashcards
Civil liberties
The fundamental individual rights of a free society, such as freedom of speech and the right to a jury trial, which in the United States are protected by the Bill of Rights.
Bill of Rights
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution. They include rights such as freedom of speech and religion and due process protections (for example, the right to a jury trial) for persons accused of crimes.
Due process clause
The clause of the Constitution (included in the Fourteenth Amendment) that has been used by the judiciary to apply Bill of Rights protections to the actions of state governments.
Selective incorporation
The process by which certain rights (for example, freedom of speech) contained in the Bill of Rights become applicable through the Fourteenth Amendment to actions by the state governments.
Freedom of expression
Americans’ freedom to communicate their views, the foundation of which is the First amendment rights of freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
Clear-and-present-danger test
A test devised by the Supreme Court in 1919 to define the limits of free speech in the context of national security. According to the test, government cannot abridge political expression unless it presents a clear and present danger to the nation’s security.
Imminent lawless action
A legal test that says government cannot lawfully suppress advocacy that promotes lawless action unless such advocacy is aimed at producing, and is likely to produce, imminent lawless action.
Symbolic speech
Action (for example, the waving or burning of a flag) for the purpose of expressing a political opinion.
Prior restraint
Government prohibition of speech or publication before the fact, which is presumed by the courts to be unconstitutional unless the justification for it is overwhelming.
Libel
The publication of false material that damages a person’s reputation.
Slander
Spoken falsehoods that damage a person’s reputation.
Establishment clause
The First Amendment provision stating that government may not favor one religion over another or favor religion over no religion and prohibiting Congress from passing laws respecting the establishment of religion.
Lemon test
A three-part test to determine whether a law relating to religion is valid under the religious establishment clause. To be valid, a law must have a secure purpose, serve neither to advance nor inhibit religion, and avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.
Free-exercise clause
A First Amendment that prohibits the government from interfering with the practice of religion.
Right of privacy
A right implied by the freedoms in the Bill of Rights that grants individuals a degree of personal privacy upon which government cannot lawfully intrude. The right gives individuals a level of free choice in areas such as reproduction and intimate relations.
