Unit 3

Question 1

A court order requiring explanation to a judge why a prisoner is being held in custody.

Answer 1

Writ of habeas corpus

Question 2

Retroactive criminal law that works to the disadvantage of a person.

Answer 2

Ex post facto law

Question 3

Due process Clause

Answer 3

Clause in the Fifth Amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in the Fourteenth
Amendment prohibiting state governments from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Question 4

Selective incorporation

Answer 4

The process by which provisions of the bill of rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth
Amendment and so applied to state and local governments.
ability of the federal government to prevent states from enacting laws that violate some of the basic constitutional rights of American citizens.

Question 5

Establishment clause

Answer 5

no establisment of state/federal religion 1st amendment

Engel v Vitale

Question 6

Free Exercise clause

Answer 6

Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of
religion.
Yoder

Question 7

Interpretation of the First Amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech
unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal acts.

Answer 7

Clear and present danger test

Question 8

Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional.

Answer 8

prior restraint

Question 9

Unprotected Speech

Answer 9

Libel, obscenity, and fighting words which are not entitled to constitutional protection in all circumstances.

Question 10

Libel

Answer 10

Written defamation of another person. For public officials and public figures, the constitutional tests designed to restrict libel
actions are especially rigid.

Question 11

Obscenity

Answer 11

Quality or state of a work that taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex by depicting sexual conduct in a patently
offensive way and that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Question 12

Words that by their very nature inflict injury on those to whom they are addressed or incite them to acts of violence.

Answer 12

Fighting words

Question 13

A writ issued by a magistrate that authorizes the police to search a particular place or person, specifying the place to
be searched and the objects to be seized.

Answer 13

Search warrant

Question 14

Requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial.

Answer 14

Exclusionary rule

Question 15

Due process

Answer 15

Established rules and regulations that restrain government officials.

Question 16

Procedural due process

Answer 16

Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how (the procedure)
government may exercise power.

Question 17

Substantive due process

Answer 17

Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves
be fair and reasonable; limits what (the substance) the government may do.

Question 18

Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the Constitution.

Answer 18

5th double jeopardy

Question 19

USA PATRIOT Act

Answer 19

Law created after 9/11 that was intended to help government agencies detect and prevent possible acts of
terrorism, or sponsorship of terrorist groups.

Question 20

USA FREEDOM Act

Answer 20

Law created in 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of the PATRIOT Act; the act imposes new
limits on the bulk collection of telecommunication metadata on U.S. citizens by American intelligence agencies, including the National
Security Agency (NSA).

Question 21

Grand Jury

Answer 21

A jury of 12 to 23 persons who, in private, hear evidence presented by the government to determine whether persons shall
be required to stand trial. If the jury believes there is sufficient evidence that a crime was committed, it issues an indictment.

Question 22

Petit jury

Answer 22

A jury of 6 to 12 persons that determines guilt or innocence in a civil or criminal action.

Question 23

A formal written statement from a grand jury charging an individual with an offense; also called a true bill.

Answer 23

Indictment

Question 24

Eminent domain

Answer 24

The power of a government to take private property for public use; the U.S. Constitution gives national and states
governments this power and requires them to provide just compensation for property so taken.

Question 25

natural rights

Answer 25

The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights.

Question 26

Affirmative Action

Answer 26

Remedial action designed to overcome the effects of discrimination against minorities and women.

Question 27

Naturalization

Answer 27

A legal action conferring citizenship on an alien.

Question 28

Equal Protection Clause

Answer 28

Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment that forbids any state to deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. By interpretation, the Fifth Amendment imposes the same limitation on the
national government. This clause is the major constitutional restraint on the power of governments to discriminate against
persons because of race, national origin, or sex.

Question 29

Literacy Test

Answer 29

Literacy requirements some states imposed as a condition of voting, generally used to disqualify black
voters in the South; now illegal.

Question 30

Democratic Party primary in the old “one-party South” that was limited to white people and essentially
constituted an election; ruled unconstitutional in 1944.

Answer 30

White primary

Question 31

Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) and ruled
unconstitutional for all elections in 1966.

Answer 31

Poll tax

Question 32

Deliberate refusal to obey law or comply with orders of public officials as a means of expressing
opposition.

Answer 32

Civil disobedience

Question 33

Lawsuit brought by an individual or group of people on behalf of all those similarly situated.

Answer 33

Class action suit

Question 34

De jure segregation

Answer 34

Segregation imposed by law.

Question 35

De facto segregation

Answer 35

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.