Civil Rights and Liberties Ch. 4 (01.20.2021)

Question 1

court orders in which a judge requires authorities to prove they are holding a prisoner lawfully and that the prisoner is to be freed if the government’s case does not persuade the judge; rights imply that prisoners have a right to know what charges are being made against them

Answer 1

habeas corpus

Question 2

law that makes an act punishable as a crime even if the action was legal at the time it was committed

Answer 2

ex post facto law

Question 3

bill of attainder

Answer 3

a law declaring an act illegal without a judicial trial

Question 4

amendment 1

Answer 4

Part of the Bill of Rights that imposes a number of restrictions on the federal government with respect to civil liberties, including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

Question 5

amendment 2

Answer 5

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Question 6

amendment 4

Answer 6

Part of the Bill of Rights that reads: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Question 7

amendment 5

Answer 7

Part of the Bill of Rights that imposes a number of restrictions on the federal government with respect to the rights of persons suspected of committing a crime. It provides for indictment by a grand jury and protection against self-incrimination, and prevents the national government from denying a person life, liberty, or property without the due process of law. It also prevents the national government from taking property without just compensation.

Question 8

amendment 6

Answer 8

Part of the Bill of Rights that sets out the basic requirements of procedural due process for federal courts to follow in criminal trials. These include speedy and public trials, impartial juries, trials in the state where the crime was committed, notice of the charges, the right to confront and obtain favorable witnesses, and the right to counsel.

Question 9

amendment 8

Answer 9

Part of the Bill of Rights that states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

Question 10

14th amendment

Answer 10

due process clause - defends against state/local gov’t, citizenship, rights, privileges and immunities, equal protection

Question 11

establishment clause vs exercise clause

Answer 11

the establishment clause is prohibiting the sanctioning of an official religion; the exercise clause is prohibiting interference with a citizen’s right to practice his or her religion

Question 12

lemon test

Answer 12

Three-part test created by the Supreme Court for examining the constitutionality of religious establishment issues.

Question 13

3 parts of the lemon test

Answer 13

A Law Must…
Have a secular legislative purpose
Not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion
Not result in an “excessive government entanglement” with religion

Question 14

prior restraint

Answer 14

Constitutional doctrine that prevents the government from prohibiting speech or publication before the fact; generally held to be in violation of the First Amendment.

Question 15

clear & present danger

Answer 15

Test articulated by the Supreme Court in Schenck v. U.S. (1919) to draw the line between protected and unprotected speech; the Court looks to see “whether the words used” could “create a clear and present danger that they will bring about substantive evils” that Congress seeks “to prevent.”

Question 16

obscenity

Answer 16

definition: (of the portrayal or description of sexual matters) offensive or disgusting by accepted standards of morality and decency.

the roth test decided that it was not constitutionally protected and the miller test provided states greater freedom in prosecuting alleged vendors of “obscene” material

Question 17

libel

Answer 17

False WRITTEN statement that defames a person’s character.

Question 18

slander

Answer 18

Untrue SPOKEN statements that defame the character of a person.

Question 19

symbolic speech

Answer 19

Symbols, signs, and other methods of expression generally considered to be protected by the First Amendment.

Question 20

direct incitement test

Answer 20

Test articulated by the Supreme Court in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) holding that the First Amendment protects advocacy of illegal action unless imminent lawless action is intended and likely to occur.

Question 21

miller test

Answer 21

Obscene only if all three are satisfied:
Would average person, applying contemporary community standards would find the work as a whole, appealing to prurient interests (having or encouraging excessive sexual interest in sexual matters)
Does the work depict or describe in a patently offensive way, social conduct or excretory functions specifically defined state law
Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

Question 22

roth test

Answer 22

“whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interests

Question 23

what was the intent of the bill of rights?

Answer 23

1. to limit the powers of the nat’l gov’t and 2. protect rights and spell them out

Question 24

civil liberties

Answer 24

Personal guarantees & freedoms that the gov’t cannot abridge by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation

Question 25

civil rights

Answer 25

Provide freedom from arbitrary (not based on reason) or discriminatory treatment by gov’t or individuals

Question 26

Exclusionary rule

Answer 26

Judicially created rule that prohibits police from using illegally seized evidence at trial.

Question 27

Who has power to regulate abortions?

Answer 27

state governments can regulate abortions on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimester

Question 28

Fundamental freedoms

Answer 28

those rights defined by the Court as essential to order, liberty, and justice and therefore entitled to the highest standard of review

Question 29

Litmus Test

Answer 29

a decisively indicative test - a question asked of a potential candidate for high office, the answer to which would determine whether the nominating official would proceed with the appointment or nomination.

Question 30

Explain what incorporation doctrine and selective incorporation are & how they work. (Include Gitlow, 14th Amendment)

Answer 30

incorporation doctrine = an interpretation of the constitution holding that the due process clause of the FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT requires state and local gov’ts to guarantee BOR, selective incorporation = where most, but not all, protections in the BOR are applicable to the states via the 14th Amendment. GITLOW V NY, with its finding that states could not abridge free speech protections, was the first to clearly articulate the incorporation doctrine