Protection of Civil rights and liberties

Question 1

The Immunities Clause

Answer 1

“No state shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the US”

Question 2

Bill of Rights

Answer 2

The protection of individual liberties in the bill of rights apply to the federal government, not to state or local governments.

Question 3

The Due Process Clause

Answer 3

Employed to guarantee individual liberties against state infringement in two ways.
-> Interpret the “liberty” in the clause to include a hot of important but unenumerated rights.
-> use the clause to incorporate provisions of the bill of rights and apply them to the states.

Question 4

Incorporated Provisions

Answer 4

1st, 2nd, 4th, partial 5th, 6th, partial 8th.

Question 5

The court adopted a theory of…

Answer 5

partial incorporation and proceeded on a case by case basis to determine whether provisions were fundamental or essential to ordered liberty.

Question 6

Rational Basis Test

Answer 6

The law will be upheld if a classification if rationally related to a legitimate government purpose.
->The government’s objective only need be a goal that is legitimate for the government to pursue.
-ANY conceivable legitimate purpose is sufficient.
-As a result, it is very rare for the court to find that a law fails this test.

Question 7

Rational Basis Test challenger must establish that the classification…

Answer 7

Does not further a legitimate governmental interest AND bears no rational relationship to that interest.

Question 8

The Rational basis test is used in evaluating laws involving,..

Answer 8

Protecting safety, public health or public morals.
-Discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Court has not yet ruled whether this warrants the application of intermediate or strict scrutiny.)

Question 9

Intermediate Scrutiny

Answer 9

The law will be upheld if it is substantially related to an important government purpose.
- The interest must be more than legitimate, the court must see it as important.
-Used in evaluating laws involving: gender discrimination, discrimination against nonmarital children, discrimination against undocumented alien children regarding education.

Question 10

Strict Scrutiny

Answer 10

A law will be upheld if it is necessary to achieve a compelling government purpose.
-The law will be struck down unless the government can show that the law is necessary to accomplish a compelling government purpose.

Question 11

Strict Scrutiny is used in evaluating the following laws involving:

Answer 11

-interference with fundamental rights(right to vote, travel, privacy, freedom of speech)
-Discrimination based on race or national origin(which will be only tolerated if the government can prove that it is necessary to achieve a compelling government purpose).
-Affirmative Action(practice or policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously)
-Government’s interest
-The risk of erroneous deprivation of such interests (if procedures will lead to more accurate decisions)