PS 201 Chapter 5

Question 1

Define Civil Liberties (how are they different from Civil Rights)

Answer 1

Civil liberties are legal protections against government interference with or restriction of personal freedoms

Question 2

Examples of Civil Liberties

Answer 2

Freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of expression, freedom of religion

Question 3

Civil liberties conflict with civil rights

Answer 3

Neither civil rights nor civil liberties are absolute. Significant public interest or competing civil rights or liberties may constrain civil rights (or civil liberties).

Question 4

The Bill of Rights

Answer 4

The Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It spells out Americans’ rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion.

Question 5

The first Ten Amendments

Answer 5

Amendment 1 Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly
Amendment 2 Right to bear arms
Amendment 3 Quartering of soldiers
Amendment 4 Search and arrest
Amendment 5 Rights in criminal cases
Amendment 6 Right to a fair trial
Amendment 7 Rights in civil cases
Amendment 8 Bail, fines, punishment
Amendment 9 Rights retained by the People
Amendment 10 States’ rights

Question 6

Barron v. Baltimore 1833

Answer 6

This court case established the idea that the bill of rights is only applied to the federal government and not the state governments.

Question 7

14th Amendment
Key definition:

Answer 7

Incorporation of Bill of Rights using the 14th amendment and mention of national citizenship to make it so citizens are not subject to state control

Question 8

Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad Company v. Chicago 1897

Answer 8

a ruling that determined the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment required states to provide just compensation for seizing private property.

Question 9

Gitlow v. New York 1925

Answer 9

the first Supreme Court decision applying the First Amendment’s free speech protections to abuses by state governments.

Question 10

Concept of Judicial Interpretation

Answer 10

Incorporation happens through judicial interpretation, Judicial interpretation is the process by which judges determine the meaning of laws, constitutions, and other legal documents, up to courts to protect civil liberties

Question 11

Major vs. peripheral liberties

Answer 11

Major: litigated heavily and developed in detail by court (freedom of speech)
Peripheral: parameters have not been fully developed (freedom of assembly)

Question 12

First Amendment

Answer 12

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of press, hold PREFERRED position

Question 13

Brandenburg v. Ohio 1969

Answer 13

This case helped interpret the first amendment, stating that states shall not impeach on freedom of speech unless it is likely or purposefully used to create lawless action.

Question 14

Sexually explicit expression
-Relevant supreme court cases

Question 15

Lemon test
-Lemon v. Kurtzman 1971

Answer 15

“Must have a secular legislative purpose” such as remedial education
“Primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion”
“An excessive government entanglement with religion”
Government can assist with religion if it is not promoting or inhibiting religion
Test focuses more the purpose, effect, and entanglement of the government with religion

Question 16

The Neutrality Test

Answer 16

Neutrality test replaced lemon test, rooted out policies that favored religious groups over nonreligious groups

Question 17

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District 2022

Answer 17

Created high bar that has endured in broadening the scope of protected speech. Court ruling that protected the coach, saying praying before a game was a practice of freedom of religion.

Question 18

Cantwell v. Connecticut 1940

Answer 18

Freedom of religion is incorporated in “the fundamental concept of liberty embodied” in the 14th amendment

Question 19

Espinosa v. Montana Department of Revenue 2019

Answer 19

Public funding cannot discriminate against religious schools as part of the Free Exercise Clause

Question 20

Second Amendment

Answer 20

right to bear arms

Question 21

Fourth Amendment

Answer 21

illegal searches and seizures

Question 22

Katz v. United States 1967

Answer 22

The telephone booth is a “constitutionally protected area”.
Govt cannot record conversations on a public payphone.

Question 23

Mapp v. Ohio 1961

Answer 23

Extended the exclusionary rule to the states.
Improperly obtained evidence cannot be used in trial.

Question 24

Fifth Amendment

Answer 24

Right to a criminal case. Protection from self-incrimination, Congress cannot change Miranda rights but court decisions can

Question 25

Miranda v. Arizona

Answer 25

Miranda rights, protects from self incrimination during arrest

Question 26

Sixth Amendment

Answer 26

Right to a fair trial. (council and impartial jury)

Question 27

Eighth Amendment

Answer 27

Protects against excessive bail, fines, and cruel and unusual punishments.

Question 28

Griswold v. Connecticut 1965

Answer 28

The 1965 Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut established the right to privacy as a constitutional right, and it had a major impact on the expansion of privacy rights in later cases Estelle Griswold and C. Lee Buxton ran a birth control clinic in New Haven, Connecticut, and were arrested for dispensing contraceptives to married couples.They argued that the state’s law banning contraception violated their right to privacy.

Question 29

Eisenstadt v. Baird 1972 and Roe v. Wade

Answer 29

gave support to feminist and reproductive freedom groups to pursue abortion rights. In 1992, the Court backed away from the first trimester standard and substituted a more ambiguous “undue burden” criterion.

Question 30

Dobbs v. Jackson WHO 2022

Answer 30

taking away the constitutional right to abortion, abandoning almost 50 years of precedent, and paving the way for states to ban abortion.