IV - Civil Liberties

Question 1

Blue law

Answer 1

Law originally created to uphold a religious or moral standard, such as a prohibition against selling alcohol on Sundays

Question 2

Civil liberties

Answer 2

Limitations on the power of gov’t, designed to ensure personal freedoms

Question 3

Civil rights

Answer 3

guarantees of equal treatment by gov’t authorities

Question 4

Common-law right

Answer 4

Right of people rooted in legal tradition and past court rulings, rather than the Constitution

Question 5

Conscientious objector

Answer 5

Person who claims the right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion

Question 6

Double jeopardy

Answer 6

Prosecution pursued twice at the same level of gov’t for the same criminal action

Question 7

Due process clause

Answer 7

Provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that limit governmental power to deny people “life, liberty, or property” on an unfair basis

Question 8

Economic liberty

Answer 8

Right of individuals to obtain, use, and trade things of value for their own benefit

Question 9

Eminent domain

Answer 9

Power of gov’t to take or use property for a public purpose after compensating its owner
Also known as the takings clause of the 5th Amendment

Question 10

Establishment clause

Answer 10

Provisions of 1st Amendment that prohibits the gov’t from endorsing a a state-sponsored religion
Interpreted as preventing gov’t from favoring some religious beliefs over others or religion over non-religion

Question 11

Exclusionary rule

Answer 11

Requirement, from Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio, that evidence obtained as a result of an illegal search or seizure cannot by used to try someone for a crime

Question 12

Free exercise clause

Answer 12

Provision of First Amendment that prohibits the gov’t from regulating religious beliefs & practices

Question 13

Miranda warning

Answer 13

Statement by law enforcement officers informing a person arrested or subject to interrogation of his or her rights

Question 14

Obscenity

Answer 14

Acts or statements that are extremely offensive by contemporary standards

Question 15

Patriot Act

Answer 15

Law passed by Congress in wake of 9/11 attacks that broadened federal powers to monitor electronic communications

Question 16

plea bargain

Answer 16

Agreement between defendant and 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

Question 17

Prior restraint

Answer 17

Gov’t action that stops someone from doing something before they are able to do it(e.g. forbidding someone to publish a book he or she plans to release)

Question 18

Probable cause

Answer 18

Legal standard for determining whether a search or seizure is constitutional or a crime has been committed
Lower threshold than standard of proof needed at criminal trial

Question 19

Right to privacy

Answer 19

Right to be free of gov’t intrusion

Question 20

Search warrant

Answer 20

Legal document, signed by judge, allowing police to search and/or seize persons or property

Question 21

Selective incorporation

Answer 21

Gradual process of making some guarantees of the Bill of Rights apply to state gov’t and national gov’t

Question 22

Self-incrimination

Answer 22

Action or statement that admits guilt or responsibility for a crime

Question 23

Sherbert test

Answer 23

Standard for deciding whether a law violates the free exercise clause
A law will be struck down unless there is a “compelling gov’t interest” at stake and it accomplishes its goal by “least restrictive means” possible

Question 24

Symbolic speech

Answer 24

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)

Question 25

Undue burden test

Answer 25

Means of deciding whether a law that makes it harder for women to seek abortions is constitutional