COURT CASES and beyond (for FRQ & Unit Test) Flashcards
Bethel v. Frazier (1986)
Students made lewd, sexually suggestive speech in school for SGA elections.
- Can schools limit free speech by prohibiting lewd actions and offensive language?- YES
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1971)
You have to go to school until you’re 16
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
Students wrote articles on divorce and teen pregnancy in the school newspaper and the principal removed them.
- Can schools control what goes into the student newspaper?- YES if there ar educational concerns
Brown v. Board (1954)
Ended racial segregation in schools
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Ended legal racial segregation in businesses, schools, and public accommodations
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US (1964)
Upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Equal Pay Act (1963)
illegal to pay women less for the equivalent work of a man
Obergefell v. Hodges
Established marriage as a fundamental right for all citizens even those who are LGBTQ
Hernandez v. Texas (1954)
expanded protection based on race beyond African Americans
Plyler v. Doe (1981)
the 14th amendment
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
protected individuals who are 40 years old or older from employment discrimination based on age
Voting Rights Act of 1965
protected African Americans against forms of racial discrimination in voting practices like poll taxes, literacy tests, and more character tests
Title IX (1972)
nobody can be denied access to any education benefit or program based on gender
Loving v. Virginia (1967)
Struck down laws banning interracial marraige
Fair Housing Act of 1968
Ended racial discrimination in buying/renting homes
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
To help future supreme Corts determine if the government has violated the establishment clause
- Government conduct must have a secular purpose, principal or primary effect that doesn’t advance or inhibit religion, and cannot foster an excessive government entanglement with religion
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
New York had non-denominational and volunteer prayer to start a school day and parents sued saying it violate their children’s 1st amendment rights
Speech definition
the expression of an idea
Pure speech
words, spoken, or written, to communicate an idea
Symbolic Speech
actions of visuals that are intended to communicate an idea
Are symbolic speech and pure speech covered by our rights?
Yes
Protected Speech
the expression of an idea CAN NOT be punished or regulated by the government
- Talking in a non-threatening way
Unprotected Speech
the expression of an idea that CAN be regulated by the government
- fighting words, threats, defamation, inciting violence, some speech in school, etc.
Schenk v. US
Went against the draft (conviction was upheld)
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
Speech can be prohibited if it is directed ar inciting or production imminent lawless action or if it is likely to incite actions
Morse v. Frederick (2007)
Students held up the “BONG HITS 4 JESUS” and were suspended
- Can schools limit free speech that involves drug use at school supervised events- NO
Mahoney Area School District v. BL (2021)
Student BL cursed out her school on Snapchat for not being able to join the varsity cheer or softball team, she was suspended after being reported
- Does the 1st amendment prohibit public school official from regulating off-campus student speech?- NO
Freedom of the Press
Protects the people from being punished for publishing information they find offensive
- seen as the bottom of a thriving democracy
Prior Restraint
the government attempt to restrict the media from publishing something
New York Times v. US
Reporters in NY held up papers giving away information about the government which did not harm anyone but was embarrassing.
- the ruling was that they were allowed to do that
Freedom of Petition and Assembly
Freedom of assembly: right to peacefully gather without government interference.
- Can be restricted by regulating the TIME, PLACE, and MANNER
Freedom of petition: the right to be able to submit a list of grievances to the government without fear of interference or punishment.
Individual Rights Theory
restricts legislative bodies from prohibiting firearms.
Views prohibitory and restrictive regulation as unconstitutional
Collective Rights Theory
Asserts that citizens do not have individual rights to posses guns.
Local, state, and federal legislative bodies have the authority to regulate firearms.
McDonald v. Chicago
After the case, DC v. Heller struck down outlawing guns, army people challenged their own handguns and other heavy restrictions
- Otis McDonald challenged the local laws of Chicago that regulated owning handguns
1st Amendment
RAPPS- Religion, Assembly, press, petition, speech
2nd Amendment
can own weapons and carry them
3rd Amendment
no quartering soldiers
4th Amendment
no illegal search and seizure by a government agent
12th Amendment
President and vice president are on the same ticket
22nd Amendment
limits the president to 2 terms
25th Amendment
Order in line for president
14th Amendment
protect non-citizens basic rights
1st- anyone born in the US is a citizen and of the state they live in
2nd- no state shall make a law that take away rights and protections given by the US
3rd- No state can take away your natural rights without going through the proper legal processes
4th- All laws made by states (and the US) have to apply to everyone equally
19th Amendment (1920)
equal access to voting for women
6th Amendment
right to a lawyer in a federal case
5th Amendment
protects criminal defendants from having to testify if they may incriminate themselves through the testimony
7th Amendment
Ensures that citizens’ civil cases can be heard and decided upon by a jury of their peers
8th Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, not excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted
9th Amendment
all rights not listed in the Constitution belong to the people, not the government
10th Amendment
the federal government only has those powers delegated in the constitution
11th Amendment
prohibit the federal courts from hearing certain lawsuits against states
13th Amendment
abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime
15th Amendment
granted African American men the right to vote
16th Amendment
gives the federal government the power to levy an income tax on all income earners in the US
17th Amendment
Allowed voters to cast direct votes for US Senators
18th Amendment
prohibited alcohol
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Created judicial review
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
upheld the supremacy clause- federal law is supreme
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Upheld the supremacy clause
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1856)
upheld the fugitive slave act
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
enforced black codes
Gideon v. Wainwright
every person is given a lawyer (good or bad)
Miranda v. Arizona
every person must be read their rights if they are questioned by the cops
Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1968)
You have to let kids express themselves until it disrupts the learning environment
New Jersey v. TLO (1985-pre Covid)
administrators have “reasonable cause” to search a person if they have reason
- police have probable cause which means they need proof
Civil liberties
protections from the government
- Masks (fed)
- Stop and frisk laws (state)
Civil rights
protection from the people
- easier to sue for breaking
De facto segregation
not enforced by law–>socially accepted/norm
De jure segregation
enforced by law
Bill of Rights purpose
protect us from the government, written by antifeds and led by brutus (we have to have civil liberties)
Selective incorporation
the process by which the Supreme Court has expanded the protections in the Bill of rights to state law
- purpose to protect citizens’ “fundamental liberties” like black people, native americans, women, disabled
Establishment Clause
protections against the government supporting one religion over another an/or forcing citizens to support a religion
Free Exercise Clause
the fundamental rights of citizens being able to practice their religious beliefs
Due process
you have to be read your rights, given a lawyer, get a trial, etc.
Whistleblower
Someone who works for the government and tells everyone about something secret in the government. They get protection.
Past and current issues
taxpayers funds and religious schools, polygamy (1wife 2 husbands vise-versa, religious statues on government property, repairing religious icons
Clues day 1-2
Americans fighting over sacred land in Native American territory.
-logging: cutting down trees
forestry service- interior departments
- est free exercise clauses/amendments
Where are civil liberties attacked most?
College campuses
Vague laws
so vague no one can get in trouble for them
How do you decide what is obscene?
You decide what is obscene, community, illegal
- anything that lacks artistic, scientific, medial value is not obscene
Can you force people to vote?
Yes, with incentives
What is an issue we have when deciding what is an issue in fed government?
Fed government gets distracted by state problems an the bigger problems don’t get solved
Steps written in Birmingham Jail Letter
- finding evidence
- negotiation with the people opposed to the movement
- self purification
Unjust laws
a code that is out of harmony with the moral code
Just laws
man-made code that squares with the moral law
Clear and present
Legal standard that speech posing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected by the 1st amendment
Libel
An untrue written statement that injures a person’s reputation
Slander
An untrue spoken expression that injures a person’s reputation
Sedition
Conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the state
Affirmative action
Opportunities for minority and women
Ex post facto law
Law that imposes criminal liability or increases criminal punishment retroactively
Probable cause
Reasonable grounds for making a search, pressing a charge
Bill of attainder
Legislation that imposes punishment on a specific person or group of people without a judicial trial
Exclusionary rule
A law that prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence in a criminal trial
