Section 4 - Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Flashcards
civil rights
Constitutional guarantees of equal opportunity and protection such as free speech, freedom
from unwarranted searches, fair trials, and the right to vote. Civil rights are prescriptions from
government (increases government’s power to give them to us).
civil liberties
Freedoms guaranteed to individuals in the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights; these liberties
restrain or stop government, thus protecting individual choices. Civil Liberties are proscriptions (limits)
on government’s power.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin; unequal application of voter registration requirements; and segregation in schools,
employment, and public accommodations.
Civil Rights Movement
A 1950-60s social movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr., promoting
nonviolent civil disobedience against racial discrimination. Ultimately, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
made law, along with other important laws against racial discrimination.
equal treatment
the equal treatment of people regardless of who they are. Required under the 14th
Amendment’s ‘equal protection’ clause.
rational basis test:
A set of criteria the Supreme Court uses to analyze and decide court cases on types
of discrimination. The accuser must prove discrimination to the Court
intermediate scrutiny test
A set of criteria used by a court to decide if the government is discriminating
on the basis of gender or sex.
strict scrutiny test
A rigorous set of criteria that courts use to analyze cases to see if a law or regulation
is needed because of a “compelling state interest.” Used in discrimination court cases on fundamental
freedoms or protected classes.
reconstruction
An era in U.S. history from 1865 to 1877, following the Civil War, Reconstruction
addressed the transition of slave states to non-slave economies and rendered full freedom, citizenship,
and equality to African Americans.
Ku Klux Klan
A terrorist hate organization that espouses white supremacy, white nationalism, and antiimmigration ideologies, first established in the South after the Civil War. The name probably derives
from the Greek word kyklos, meaning “circle,” plus clan
white flight
: A phrase describing a social phenomenon occurring mainly in the 1950s and 1960s; this was
the large-scale migration of Whites from racially mixed urban areas into racially homogeneous suburbs.
racial profiling
The act of making judgments about a person—usually negative— based solely on
stereotypes about the person’s race. This is illegal
public
the part of our lives where we interact with others that are not intimate to us; in a shared or
public space.
private
the part of our lives when we are alone or with intimate others, which takes place outside of
public spaces.
ex post facto laws
Literally meaning “from a thing done afterward,” this is a law that applies
retroactively, such as making a legal action suddenly illegal, with punishments. The U.S. Constitution
prohibits Congress from passing any retroactive, or ex post facto, laws.
bill of attainder
This bill or law is not allowed in the US Constitution where Congress would pass a law
to declare a person guilty of a crime, give a punishment, yet without a trial. The U.S. Constitution
prohibits Congress from passing any bills of attainder
habeas corpus
Meaning, in Latin, “show me the body,” this is the right for a jailed citizen to appear
before a judge to hear about a criminal charge. Habeus corpus prohibits imprisoning people without due
process of law
search
the effort to locate documents and contraband (illegal materials).
search warrant
A legal document issued by a court authorizing the police to search for a person or
property for evidence of a crime. Exceptions to police needing search warrants are: - when item/person
is in plain sight, when there is no assumption of privacy (example - searching a work computer), when
police feel the illegal material will be taken if they go to get a search warrant, if person gives permission
for police to search without a warrant, or criminal activity is being committed.
probable cause
The legal standard for determining whether a search or seizure is constitutional or
whether a crime has been committed; this is a lower threshold than the standard of proof needed at a
criminal trial.
exclusionary rule
Based on the Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio, this rule states that evidence
obtained as a result of an illegal search or seizure cannot be used in a criminal trial.
double jeopardy
A legal prohibition against trying an individual (that is, placing the person “in
jeopardy”) twice for the same crime, established by the Fifth Amendment
constitutional rights
rights granted to you in the Constitution.
statutory right
a right granted to you in a law or statute
voir dire
The questioning of potential jurors to determine their fitness to sit on a jury. The term is
French, meaning “to speak the truth.”
economic liberty
The right of individuals to obtain, use, and trade things of value for their own benefit.
eminent domain
A power of government to take and use private property for a public purpose after
compensating its owner; also known as “the takings clause” of the Fifth Amendment.
Establishment Clause
Listed in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, the Establishment clause
prohibits the federal government from passing laws to create or promote a state-sponsored religion.
Free Exercise Clause
Located in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, the Free Exercise clause
protects the choice of each person to adopt and practice individual religious beliefs, forbidding the
government to control or restrict such beliefs and practices.
conscientious objectors
Individuals who refuse to perform military service (draft) on the grounds of
their freedom of thought, conscience, or religious beliefs. Allowed in the Gillette v US court case.
Civil War Amendments
The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments, which were added to
the Constitution after the Civil War; these amendments ended slavery, provided equal protection under
the law, and granted voting rights to men of color.
Equal Protection Clause
A clause in Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment that prohibits the
government from denying any person equal protection under the law.
Jim Crow laws
A set of laws used to discriminate against African Americans and deny rights to newly
freed slaves after the Civil War. The name “Jim Crow” came from a minstrel routine, “Jump Jim Crow,”
that turned into a derogatory term for African Americans. Examples of those laws were the literacy
tests, poll taxes, the grandfather clauses, etc
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
An unratified amendment to the U.S. Constitution, proposed in 1972,
that would require equal treatment for all citizens regardless of sex. The original date of ratification by
at least 38 states was March 1979; 35 states ratified it. The ERA is still considered by some to be
ratifiable, although it is not universally accepted that this is constitutional.
Obergefell v. Hodges
A landmark 2015 Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage; this case
had many amicus briefs filed in its support.
