Chapter 7 Vocab

Question 1

civil liberties

Answer 1

the basic legal freedoms that citizens have to protect them from governmental abuses of power as expressed in the Bill of Rights

Question 2

ex post facto laws

Answer 2

laws may make an action a crime that was not a crime when committed, or they may increase punishment for a crime after it was committed

Question 3

bills of attainder

Answer 3

a legislative act that punishes an individual or group without judicial trial. The Constitution forbids them because the founders believed that it is the job of the Courts, not Congress, to decide that a person is guilty of a crime and then impose punishment

Question 4

first amendment

Answer 4

Free Exercise Clause
The Establishment clause
freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition

Question 5

second amendment

Answer 5

right to bear arms

Question 6

third amendment

Answer 6

prohibits the quartering of soldiers in any house

Question 7

fourth amendment

Answer 7

restricts searches and seizures

Question 8

fifth amendment

Answer 8

provides for grand juries, restricts eminent domain and prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy

Question 9

eminent domain

Answer 9

the right of the government to take private property for public use with compensation

Question 10

sixth amendment

Answer 10

guarantees the rights of criminal defendants, including the right to a public trial without unnecessary delay, the right to a lawyer

Question 11

seventh amendment

Answer 11

guarantees trial by jury in civil cases that involve values as low as $20

Question 12

eighth amendment

Answer 12

prevents excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment

Question 13

ninth amendment

Answer 13

allows that amendments 1-8 do not necessarily include all possible rights of the people

Question 14

tenth amendment

Answer 14

reserves for the states any powers not delegated to the national government specifically in the Constitution (reserved powers)

Question 15

procedural due process

Answer 15

asks whether the government has followed the proper procedures when it takes away life, liberty or property.

Question 16

substantive due process

Answer 16

asks the question of whether the government’s deprivation of a person’s life, liberty or property is justified by a sufficient purpose

Question 17

incorporation

Answer 17

the doctrine by which portions of the Bill of Rights have been made applicable to the states.

Question 18

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Answer 18

Barron filed suit against the City of Baltimore after construction projects put sediment in Barron’s property. Barron claimed the city took his property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment. The US Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights did not apply to state laws

Question 19

selective incorporation

Answer 19

Incorporation over time through individual court decisions that required states to protect most of the same liberties and rights that the Bill of Rights to the states

Question 20

Gitlow v. New York, 1925

Answer 20

The Supreme Court stated that “fundamental personal rights” such as freedom of speech were protected from infringement by states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Question 21

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Answer 21

incorporated the right to counsel into the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to require states to provide counsel to anyone charged with a felony who was too poor to afford a lawyer.

Question 22

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Answer 22

held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense applicable to the states

Question 23

Warren court (Earl Warren)

Answer 23

An activist court of the 1960s, set precedents that broadly construe the commerce clause

Question 24

Title IX (1972)

Answer 24

It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.

Question 25

establishment clause

Answer 25

prohibits the government from establishing an official church

Question 26

free exercise clause

Answer 26

allows people to worship as they please

Question 27

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Answer 27

The state cannot hold prayers in public schools, even if it is not required and not tied to a particular religion

Question 28

Wallace v. Jaffree

Answer 28

the Supreme Court struck down as a violation of the establishment clause a “one minute period of silence” that the Alabama legislature prescribed for its public schools at the start of each day.

Question 29

Oregon v. Smith (1990)

Answer 29

The Supreme Court ruled that prohibiting the use of the drug (peyote) was not a violation of the Free Exercise Clause because religious beliefs do not excuse a person from following laws prohibiting certain conduct

Question 30

Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby Stores

Answer 30

Supreme Court ruled that the contraceptive mandate promulgated under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violated privately held, for-profit corporations’ right to religious freedom

Question 31

religious pluralism

Answer 31

occurs when a society has citizens that practice many types of religious beliefs

Question 32

Abbington School District v. Schempp, 1963

Answer 32

holding that mandatory religious activity as part of a public school’s curriculum, such as Bible readings and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Question 33

Sedition Act of 1798

Answer 33

John Adams, with threatened war with France, signed a law that Congress passed, making it a crime to write, utter, or publish anti-government statements with the “intent to defame”

Question 34

Espionage Act of 1917

Answer 34

forbid false statements that intended to interfere with the US military forces or materials to be mailed if they violated the law or advocated resistance to government.

Question 35

Schenck v. U.S., 1919

Answer 35

any language that directly caused an illegal act was not protected by the First Amendment

Question 36

Internal Security Act of 1950

Answer 36

required Communist organizations to register and to publish membership lists

Question 37

Brandenburg v. Ohio, 1969

Answer 37

established that speech would have to be judged as inciting “imminent” unlawful action in order to be restricted

Question 38

libel

Answer 38

a false written statement that attacks another person’s character, is not automatically protected although it is very hard to sue for libel

Question 39

Texas v. Johnson, 1989

Answer 39

Since flag-burning has no other intent than to convey a message, the Court has ruled that it does not incite illegal actions

Question 40

Roe v. Wade, 1973

Answer 40

The justices cited the right to privacy as the liberty to choose to have an abortion before the baby was viable

Question 41

5th Amendment Due Process Clause

Answer 41

requires the United States government to practice equal protection.

Question 42

14th Amendment Due Process Clause

Answer 42

requires states to practice equal protection.

Question 43

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Answer 43

A case in which the Court decided that evidence obtained illegally may not be used against someone in a court of law by the Fourth Amendment.

Question 44

exclusionary rule

Answer 44

upholds the principle that evidence gathered illegally cannot be used in a trial

Question 45

Furman v. Georgia, 1972

Answer 45

warned the states that the death penalty was to be carried out in a fair and consistent way

Question 46

New York Times Co. v. United States, 1971

Answer 46

The Court held that the government did not overcome the “heavy presumption against” prior restraint of the press in the case by citing national security concerns