Civil Liberties Flashcards
What does the US constitution do?
The U.S. Constitution—in particular, the first ten amendments that form the Bill of Rights—protects the freedoms and rights of individuals.
How do we interpret the US constitutions cosntant use of the word “persons”
which over time has grown to mean that even children, visitors from other countries, and immigrants—permanent or temporary, legal or undocumented—
civil liberties
as limitations on government power, intended to protect freedoms upon which governments may not legally intrude.
Civil rights
guarantees that government officials will treat people equally and that decisions will be made on the basis of merit rather than race, gender, or other personal characteristics.
What was at the core of the arguments Americans made for their independence
The idea that people have fundamental rights and liberties
In writing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Thomas Jefferson drew on the ideas of English philosopher John Locke to express what?
the colonists’ belief that they had certain inalienable or natural rights that no ruler had the power or authority to deny to their subjects.
Why was the idea of adding the bill of rights dismissed at the Constitutional Convention.
The framers of the Constitution believed they faced much more pressing concerns than the protection of civil rights and liberties—most notably keeping the fragile union together in the light of internal unrest and external threats.
What argument did Alexander Hamilton make about what the constitution was intended for?
Alexander Hamilton argued that the Constitution was “merely intended to regulate the general political interests of the nation” rather than contend with “the regulation of every species of personal and private concerns.”
Why did Alexander Hamilton argue against adding the Bill of Rights
He thought some rights might actually be dangerous, because it would provide a pretext for people to claim that rights not included in such a list were not protected.
Did federalists or anti federalists argue for the inclusion of the bill of rights?
anti federalists
Which conflict nearly prevented the ratification of the constitution?
The struggle to have rights clearly delineated and the decision of the framers to omit a bill of rights from the Constitution nearly derailed the ratification process.
If the constitution could go into effect with the support of nine states, why did they need the bigger states?
Because it wouldn’t be effective
To secure majorities in favor of ratification in New York and Virginia, as well as Massachusetts, what was done?
they agreed to consider incorporating provisions suggested by the ratifying states as amendments to the Constitution.
Where did John Madison propose the amendments from?
drawing from the Declaration of Rights in the Virginia state constitution, suggestions from the ratification conventions, and other sources.
First Amendment
Right to freedoms of religion and speech; right to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances; right to a free press
Second Amendment
Right to keep and bear arms to maintain a well-regulated militia
Third Amendment
Right to not house soldiers during time of war
Fourth Amendment
Right to be secure from unreasonable search and seizure
Fifth Amendment
Rights in criminal cases, including due process and indictment by grand jury for capital crimes, as well as the right not to testify against oneself
Sixth Amendment
Right to a speedy trial by an impartial jury
Seventh Amendment
Right to a jury trial in civil cases
Eighth Amendment
Right to not face excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment
Ninth Amendment
Rights retained by the people, even if they are not specifically enumerated by the Constitution
Tenth Amendment
The Tenth Amendment says that the Federal Government only has those powers delegated in the Constitution. If it isn’t listed, it belongs to the states or to the people.
Did the Bill of Rights expand to the action of the states?
In the decades following the Constitution’s ratification, the Supreme Court declined to expand the Bill of Rights to curb the power of the states,
How did John Marshel (the Chief Justice) explain why the Bill of Rights only applied to the national government?
Explaining the court’s ruling, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that it was incorrect to argue that “the Constitution was intended to secure the people of the several states against the undue exercise of power by their respective state governments; as well as against that which might be attempted by their [Federal] government.”
what forced a reexamination of the prevailing thinking about the application of the Bill of Rights to the states.
The festering issue of the rights of enslaved persons and the convulsions of the Civil War and its aftermath forced a reexamination of the prevailing thinking about the application of the Bill of Rights to the states.
Why did the gov reexamine their decision to not appliing the Bill of Rights to the states
The festering issue of the rights of enslaved persons and the convulsions of the Civil War and its aftermath
What did the confederates do to restrict the rights of black people?
Pass the black codes
“Black codes”
restricted the rights of formerly enslaved people, including the right to hold office, own land, or vote, relegating them to second-class citizenship.
How did the Radical Republicans respond to the Black codes
members of the Radical Republican faction in Congress demanded that the Black codes be overturned.
What was the Radical Republican’s long term solution to get rid of the black codes
Their long-term solution was to propose and enforce two amendments to the Constitution to guarantee the rights of freed men and women.
What was the Radical Republican’s short term solution to get rid of the black codes
In the short term, they advocated suspending civilian government in most of the southern states and replacing politicians who had enacted these discriminatory laws.
due process clause
reads, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
selective incorporation
Selective incorporation is the process in which the Supreme Court of the United States ensures that the rights guaranteed in the Constitution are not violated by the states.
3 categories of the provisions of the Bill of rights
-protecting induvidual freedoms
- protect people suspected or accused of criminal activity or facing civil litigation;
-view that the Bill of Rights is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all the rights people have and guarantees a role for state as well as federal government
Which amendments “protect induvidual freedoms”
The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Amendments
Which amendments protect people suspected or accused of criminal activity or facing civil litigation;
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth
Which amendments have the view that the Bill of Rights is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all the rights people have and guarantees a role for state as well as federal government
Ninth and Tenth
Arguably most extensive amendment
The First Amendment
What does the first part of the first amendment say?
first, it protects people from having a set of religious beliefs imposed on them by the government,
What does the second part of the first amendment say?
it protects people from having their own religious beliefs restricted by government authorities.
establishment clause
The first of these two freedoms
What are the first two freedoms known as
establishment clause
What was common for other governments when the US was formed, that the US didn’t adopt
- the governents would be connected to religion
Why did the US not connect religion to government
Many settlers in the United States came to this continent as refugees from such wars; others came to find a place where they could follow their own religion with like-minded people in relative peace. Even if the early United States had wanted to establish a single national religion, the diversity of religious beliefs within and between the colonies would have made this quite impossible.
Why did states passed laws forbidding government aid to religious schools.
An influx of immigrants from Ireland and eastern and southern Europe brought large numbers of Catholics. Ppl feared the new immigrants and their children would not assimilate,
What happend when the public schools incorporated protestant features?
t these features would come into conflict with the beliefs of children from other Christian sects or from other religious traditions.
Is the establishment clause interpreted more narrowly or broadly today?
broadly
Can the nation or state form a church?
no
What did the supreme court establish in the Lemon v. Kurtzman case?
, the Supreme Court established the Lemon test for deciding whether a law or other government action that might promote a particular religious practice should be allowed to stand.
The lemon test’s first criteria
- The action or law must not lead to excessive government entanglement with religion; in other words, policing the boundary between government and religion should be relatively straightforward and not require extensive effort by the government.
The lemon test’s second criteria
- The action or law cannot either inhibit or advance religious practice; it should be neutral in its effects on religion.
The lemon test’s third criteria
- The action or law must have some secular purpose; there must be some non-religious justification for the law.
free exercise clause
limits the ability of the government to control or restrict religious practices. This
Why is the cause of the majority of the controversy of the free exercise clause
Much of the controversy surrounding the free exercise clause reflects the way laws or rules that apply to everyone might apply to people with particular religious beliefs. For example, can a Jewish police officer whose religious belief, if followed strictly, requires them to observe Shabbat be compelled to work on a Friday night or during the day on Saturday?
conscientious objectors
—individuals who claim the right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion—
What did the supreme court rule in in Gillette v. United States
that to claim to be a conscientious objector, a person must be opposed to serving in any war, not just some wars.18
What two criteria in the Sherbert Test:
it must show there was a very good reason for the law in question and that the law was the only feasible way of achieving that goal.
purpose of Sherbert Test
to make it very difficult for the federal and state governments to enforce laws against individuals that would infringe upon their religious beliefs.
How did the court eventually narrow the Sherbert test?
as the law was not designed to target a person’s religious beliefs in particular, it was not up to the courts to decide that those beliefs were more important than the law in question.
How did narrowing the sherbert test envoke constroversey?
followers of other religious traditions grew concerned that state and local laws, even ones neutral on their face, might be used to curtail their religious practices.
How did congress respond to the supreme court’s decision to get rid of the sherbert test
decision, Congress passed a law known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA),
What did congress do after the supreme court struck down of part of their relgious freedom restoration act?
created the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
Who was the RFRA controversial to?
buisnesses
Why was the RFRA controversial to buisnesses?
the application of the RFRA has become problematic in businesses and non-profit organizations whose owners or organizers may share a religious belief while the organization has some secular, non-religious purpose.
What did Schenck v. United States rule?
the Supreme Court ruled that people encouraging young men to dodge the draft could be imprisoned for doing so, arguing that recommending that people disobey the law was tantamount to “falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic” and thus presented a “clear and present danger” to public order.27
What does it mean that the states and federal government can’t engage in prior restraint
the federal government could not in advance prohibit someone from publishing something without a very compelling reason.
obscenity
acts or statements that are extremely offensive under current societal standards.
Controversy over the second amendment
Is this amendment merely a protection of the right of the states to organize and arm a “well regulated militia” for civil defense, or is it a protection of a “right of the people” as a whole to individually bear arms?
When were Second Amendment were reenergized?
After the civil war?
Arguments that 2nd Amendment doesn’t give people the right to own guns?
The Interpretation: Second Amendment protected the right of the states to organize a militia, rather than an individual right,
District of Columbia v. Heller
the Supreme Court found that at least some gun control laws did violate the Second Amendment and that this amendment does protect an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, at least in some circumstances—in particular, “for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.”
probable cause
the legal standard for determining whether a search or seizure is constitutional or a crime has been committed; it is a lower threshold than the standard of proof at a criminal trial.
Why do critics argue that probable cause is ineffective
because law enforcement officers are almost always able to get a search warrant when they request one.
What is the rebuttle arguments to the critics who argue tha tthe probable cause in ineffective?
On the other hand, since we wouldn’t expect the police to waste their time or a judge’s time trying to get search warrants that are unlikely to be granted, perhaps the high rate at which they get them should not be so surprising.
exclusionary rule
prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of the United States Constitution.
exceptions to the exclusionary rule
The courts have allowed evidence to be used that was obtained without the necessary legal procedures in circumstances where police executed warrants they believed were correctly granted but in fact were not (“good faith” exception), and when the evidence would have been found anyway had they followed the law (“inevitable discovery”).
What protects those suspected or accused of crimes from various forms of unfair or unjust treatment.
Bill of Rights
What do the protections in the fourth amendment largely pertain to?
to investigations conducted before someone has been charged with a crime,
double jeopardy
a process that subjects a suspect to prosecution twice for the same criminal act.
self-incrimination
the right to remain silent
takings clause
“private property [cannot] be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
economic liberty
: their right to obtain, use, and trade tangible and intangible property for their own benefit.
eminent domain
means to take property for redevelopment. Traditionally, the main use of eminent domain was to obtain property for transportation corridors like railroads, highways, canals and reservoirs, and pipelines, which require fairly straight routes to be efficient.
The Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act
aimed at reducing the practice of civil forfeiture, in which governments and law enforcement entities seize property of people suspected of crimes, prior to conviction and sometimes without bringing formal charges.
Once someone has been charged with a crime and indicted, the next stage in a criminal case is typically ____________________
the trial
The Sixth Amendment contains the provisions that govern ______________
criminal trials.
the first of the guarentees in the sixth amendment
the right to have a speedy, public trial by an impartial jury.
Is there an absolute limit on the length of time that may pass between an indictment and a trial?
no but the Supreme Court has said that excessively lengthy delays must be justified and balanced against the potential harm to the defendant.
what does a speedy trial protect ppl from?
the speedy trial requirement protects people from being detained indefinitely by the government.
exceptions to he public trial amendment
a public trial would undermine the defendant’s right to a fair trial, it can be held behind closed doors, while prosecutors can request closed proceedings only in certain, narrow circumstances (generally, to protect witnesses from retaliation or to guard classified information).
requirements about where a trial must be held:
a prosecution must also be made in the “state and district” where the crime was committed; however, people accused of crimes may ask for a change of venue for their trial if they believe pre-trial publicity or other factors make it difficult or impossible for them to receive a fair trial where the crime occurred.
plea bargain
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 they might receive if convicted after a full trial.
What does the 6th amendment require of the jury?
that they be impartial
prosecution. In general, the only testimony acceptable in a criminal trial must___________________________________
be given in a courtroom and be subject to cross-examination;
hearsay,
testimony by one person about what another person has said, is generally inadmissible,
when may hearsay be presented as evidence
hearsay may be presented as evidence when it is an admission of guilt by the defendant or a “dying declaration” by a person who has passed away.
What does the sixth amendment say about lawyers?
right of those accused of crimes to have the assistance of an attorney in their defense.
What happens if someone can’t afford a lawyer
one will be given to them
Why would, a person charged with a serious crime will have a brief hearing before a judge?
to be informed of the charges against the person, to be made aware of the right to counsel, and to enter a plea.
1st step of a trial
the lawyers for the prosecution and defense make opening arguments,
2nd step of a trial
testimony by witnesses for the prosecution (and any cross-examination),
3rd step of a trial
and then testimony by witnesses for the defense, including the defendant if the defendant chooses.
4th step of a trial
Additional prosecution witnesses may be called to rebut testimony by the defense.
5th step of a trial
both sides make closing arguments. The judge then issues instructions to the jury, including an admonition not to discuss the case with anyone outside the jury room.
6th step of a trial
The jurors pick a foreman or forewoman to coordinate their deliberations. They may ask to review evidence or to hear transcripts of testimony. They deliberate in secret and their decision must be unanimous. If they are unable to agree on a verdict after extensive deliberation, a mistrial may be declared, which in effect requires the prosecution to try the case all over again.
What does the seventh amendment deal with?
the rights of those engaged in civil disputes
civil diputes
disagreements between individuals or businesses in which people are typically seeking compensation for some harm caused.
in what case may a trial not take place b4 a jury in a civic trial
all trials in civil cases must take place before a jury unless both sides waive their right to a jury trial.
What does the seventh amendment limit the ability of the judge to do?
The Seventh Amendment limits the ability of judges to reconsider questions of fact, rather than of law, that were originally decided by a jury. For example, if a jury decides a person was responsible for an action and the case is appealed, the appeals judge cannot decide someone else was responsible.
The Eighth Amendment says, in full:
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
Bail
a payment of money that allows a person accused of a crime to be freed pending trial.
What might people who can’t afford bail choose to do?
Use a Bail bond
What’s a bail bond allow u to do?
allows them to pay a fraction of the money (typically 10 percent) to a person who sells bonds and who pays the full bail amount.
How does a person who sells bail bonds make money?
(In most states, the bond seller makes money because the defendant does not get back the money for the bond, and most people show up for their trials.)
Who may be denied bail?
However, people believed likely to flee or who represent a risk to the community while free may be denied bail and held in jail until their trial takes place.
The most controversial provision of the Eighth Amendment:
the ban on “cruel and unusual punishments.”
Who might never be executed?
criminals with intellectual disabilities
What do the ninth and tenth amendments say?
indicate how the Constitution and the Bill of Rights should be interpreted, and lay out the residual powers of the state governments.
How did the the framers of the constitution feel about adding specific rights to the constitution?
framers were aware they might endanger some rights if they listed a few in the Constitution and omitted others.
Can we exercise rights not in the constitution?
we regularly exercise and take for granted rights that aren’t written down in the federal constitution,
2 arguments for how to interpret the 9th and 10th amendment
some arguing that it was intended to extend the rights protected by the Constitution to those natural and common-law rights
others arguing that it does not prohibit states from changing their constitutions and laws to modify or limit those rights as they see fit.
What do Critics of a broad interpretation of the Ninth Amendment point out?
They point out that the Constitution provides ways to protect newly formalized rights through the amendment process.
What do supporters of a broad interpretation of the Ninth Amendment point out?
However, supporters of a broad interpretation of the Ninth Amendment point out that the rights of the people—particularly people belonging to political or demographic minorities—should not be subject to the whims of popular majorities.
The Tenth Amendment is as follows:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
How is the tenth amendment diff from the others
Rights, this amendment focuses on power rather than rights.
What does the tenth amendment say in simple terms?
rather than limiting the power of the federal government in any meaningful way, it simply restates: the federal government has both enumerated and implied powers, but where the federal government does not (or chooses not to) exercise power, the states may do so.
What do people think about the final “or” in the 10th amendment?
Amendment: the federal government has both enumerated and implied powers, but where the federal government does not (or chooses not to) exercise power, the states may do so.
Ppl read this final “or” as capturing the essential question of U.S. political history: do the states who agreed to unite in a federal system remain sovereign, or once united, is it the federal government’s responsibility to protect the power of the people—including against states that might infringe upon them?
At times, politicians and state governments have argued that the Tenth Amendment means states can engage in interposition or nullification by _________
blocking federal government laws and actions they deem to exceed the constitutional powers of the national government.
When is the only time supreme court sympathetic to the argument that “At times, politicians and state governments have argued that the Tenth Amendment means states can engage in interposition or nullification”
when the federal government appears to be directly requiring state and local officials to do something.
What power does the tenth amendment give to the states that it denies to the national gov
to guarantee rights and liberties more fully or extensively than the federal government does, or to include additional rights.
For example, if Congress decided to outlaw hunting and fishing and the Supreme Court decided this law was a valid exercise of federal power, could the state constitutional provisions that protect the right to hunt and fish still stand?
nope
right to privacy
a right to be free of government intrusion into our personal life, particularly within the bounds of the home.
do state constitutions do list the right to privacy as a protected right,
yes
Does the suprmeme court protect to right to privacy?
the explicit recognition by the Supreme Court of a right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution emerged only in the middle of the twentieth century. (but yes)
What social revolution may well have contributed to a sense that anti-contraception laws were at the very least dated, if not in violation of people’s rights.
the “sexual revolution”
undue burden test
which allows restrictions prior to viability that are not “substantial obstacle[s]” (undue burdens) to women seeking an abortion.
undue burden test
In short, the undue burden standard states that a legislature cannot make a particular law that is too burdensome or restrictive of one’s fundamental rights.
What did the court replace Roe’s framework based on trimesters of pregnancy with?
undue burden test
What has happened since the Since the Casey decision
many states have passed other restrictions on abortions, such as banning certain procedures, requiring women to have and view an ultrasound before having an abortion, and implementing more stringent licensing and inspection requirements for facilities where abortions are performed.
Casey decision
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court upheld the right to have an abortion
Roe v. Wade
the Supreme Court decided the right to privacy encompassed a right for women to terminate a pregnancy, at least under certain scenarios.
Does the government still have any leeway to regulate sexual morality between two consenting people?
yes, “anything goes” is not the law of the land, even for actions that are consensual.
How does the gov regulate sexual morality between consenting people?
- The Supreme Court has declined to strike down laws in a few states that outlaw the sale of vibrators and other sex toys.
- Prostitution remains illegal in every state except in certain rural counties in Nevada; both polygamy (marriage to more than one other person) and bestiality (sex with animals) are illegal everywhere.
- states and localities have sought to ban or regulate the production, distribution, and sale of pornography.
How can your phones track you?
smartphones constantly report their location to the nearest cell phone tower and broadcast a beacon signal to nearby wireless hotspots and Bluetooth devices.
stingray
small device that identifies and tracks all cell phones that attempt to connect to it within a radius of several thousand feet. With the right software, law enforcement and criminals can remotely activate a phone’s microphone and camera, effectively planting a bug in someone’s pocket without the person even knowing it
metadata
metadata—information about the messages we send and the calls we make and receive, such as time, location, sender, and recipient but excluding their content
When people are tracked, how is it easy to figure out who’s data is whose if the data is annoymonus?
people travel and communicate in largely predictable patterns.
How can drones be used to spy on people?
drones, small preprogrammed or remotely piloted aircraft. Drones can fly virtually undetected and monitor events from overhead. They can peek into backyards surrounded by fences, and using infrared cameras they can monitor activity inside houses and other buildings.
USA PATRIOT Act
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act
many advocates of civil liberties are concerned that laws such as the USA PATRIOT Act are what:
are giving the the federal government too much power by making it easy for officials to seek and obtain search warrants or, in some cases, to bypass warrant requirements altogether.
What do critics of the patriot act argue?
that the Patriot Act has largely been used to prosecute ordinary criminals, in particular drug dealers, rather than terrorists as intended.
Benefit to being tracked by the gov:
Examples: Spending less time stuck in traffic because we know there’s been an accident—detected automatically because the cell phones that normally whiz by at the speed limit are now crawling along—gives us time to spend on more valuable activities. Capturing criminals and terrorists by recognizing them or their vehicles before they can continue their agendas will protect the life, liberty, and property of the public at large.
blue law
a law originally created to uphold a religious or moral standard, such as a prohibition against selling alcohol on Sundays
civil liberties
limitations on the power of government, designed to ensure personal freedoms
civil rights
guarantees of equal treatment by government authorities
common-law right
a right of the people rooted in legal tradition and past court rulings, rather than the Constitution
conscientious objector
a person who claims the right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion
double jeopardy
a prosecution pursued twice at the same level of government for the same criminal action
due process clause
provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that limit government power to deny people “life, liberty, or property” on an unfair basis
economic liberty
the right of individuals to obtain, use, and trade things of value for their own benefit
eminent domain
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
establishment clause
the provision of the First 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
exclusionary rule
a requirement, from Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio, that evidence obtained as a result of an illegal search or seizure cannot be used to try someone for a crime
free exercise clause
the provision of the First Amendment that prohibits the government from regulating religious beliefs and practices
Miranda warning
a statement by law enforcement officers informing a person arrested, or subject to interrogation, of that person’s rights
obscenity
acts or statements that are extremely offensive by contemporary standards
Patriot Act
a law passed by Congress in the wake of the 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)
plea bargain
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
prior restraint
a government action that stops someone from doing something before they are able to do it (e.g., forbidding people to publish a book they plan to release)
probable cause
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
right to privacy
the right to be free of government intrusion
search warrant
a legal document, signed by a judge, allowing police to search and/or seize persons or property
selective incorporation
the gradual process of making some guarantees of the Bill of Rights (so far) apply to state governments and the national government
self-incrimination
an action or statement that admits guilt or responsibility for a crime
Sherbert test
a standard for deciding whether a law violates the free exercise clause; a law will be struck down unless there is a “compelling governmental interest” at stake and it accomplishes its goal by the “least restrictive means” possible
symbolic speech
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)
undue burden test
a means of deciding whether a law that makes it harder for women to seek abortions is constitutional
True or false: The right to writ of habeas corpus right explicitly protected by the Constitution, as drafted at the Constitutional Convention
true
Which part of the Constitution limits the ability of the government to control or restrict religious practices?
The Free Exercise Clause of the 1st Amendment
True or false: Originally, the civil liberties protected in the Constitution only applied to the national government. They did not protect citizens from the actions of state governments.
true
In Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court held that the Bill of Rights limits __________, not __________, activity.
federal; state
Burning of the U.S. flag is an act of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment. True or false:
True
Today, the United States is the only western country to use which of the following to punish crime?
the death penalty
What does the Sixth Amendment guarantee to those accused of a crime?
assistance of counsel
In the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to ________________________________________
an attorney, even if you cannot afford one
How did the U.S. Supreme Court interpret the Second Amendment in District of Columbia v. Heller?
It ruled that the Second Amendment protected an individual’s right to own a gun for personal use in Washington D.C.
