Chapter 5: Civil Liberties Flashcards
Did the founders ever think federal stuff would be applied to the state?
no they thought the federal government would only be able to do what it was explicitly allowed to do and the states could do whatever
civil liberties
protections the Constitution provides against the abuse of government power
True or false: The Constituion and the Bill of Rights contain a list of competing rights and duties
true
ex. Dr Sheppard wants a fair trial but the media wants to report stories about his love life
Political stuggles over civil liberties follow much the same pattern as…?
interest group politics involving economic issues
What has generally restricted Civil liberties?
WAR
Sedition Act
1798
crime to publish “false, scandalous, and malicious writing”
with the intenion of like defaming the government or making the people not like them
this was kind of a reaction to the French Revolution
Espionage and Sedition Acts q
1917-1918
crime to utter false statements that would interfere with the American military, to send mail urding treason or insurrection or to write or sat anything disloyal or that could be harmful to US or war effort because it was WWI and people were afraid of German spies [Red Scare] [AG Palmer]
Smith Act 1940, the Internal Security Act 1950, and the Communist Control Act (1954)
illegal to advocate for people to overthrow gov by force (SMITH)
required members of the COmmunirt party to register with the gov (ISA)
Communist party = conspiracy to overthrow gov (Communist Control Act)
WWII and the Korean War –> People were afraid that foreign agents were trying to mess up US
McCarthy
Is some use still made of the sedition laws?
yes which is super werid
ex. 1980s white supermacists and Puerto Rican nationalists
accused not only spoke of wanting to overthrow the government but tried to undertake this mission violently
True or false; now people charged with sedition are generally just people who were talking about stuff
false, generally they also do something more dangerous as well
True or false: early schools tended to be religious
true they were Protestant and they received state aid
back then the view of America was like Wasp
When did the Constitution stop being silent on what states could do?
After the civil war
Due process of law
Denies the government the right, without due process, to deprive people of life, liberty, and property
Equal protection of the law
A standard of equal treatment that must be observed by the government
Selective incorporation
Court cases that apply Bill of Rights to states and
Freedom of expression
Right if people to speak, publish, and assemble
Freedom of religion
People shall be free to exercise their religion, and government may not establish a religion
Prior restraint
Censorship of a publication
Clear-and-present-danger test
Law should not punish speech unless there was a clear and present danger of producing harmful actions
Which rights are not applied to the states according to Wilson?
The right to bear arms (2nd Amend)
The right not to have soldiers forcibly quartered in private homes (3rd)
The right to be indicted by a grand jury before being tried for a serious crime (Fifth Amendment)
The right to a jury trial in civil cases (7th)
The ban on excessive bail and fines (8)
When the court creates a new right (ex privacy) does it apply to the national government or the states?
BOTH
William Blackstone
Loved free speech (essential to free state) but the freedom the press should have is prior restraint (ex. They can’t tell you not to publish something but they can tell you after that you shouldn’t have done that)
True or false: the US Sedition Act of 1798 was in line with traditional ENglish law
true (but it was an improvement because it gave the people to a jury and allowed them to be acquitted)
Why did Jeffersonians object to the Sedition laws?
they didn’t want the federal government to hold newspapers accountable, they wanted the states to hold them accountable
