Unit 3

Question 1

Civil Liberties

Answer 1

the protections from the abuse of government power

Question 2

Arbitrary

Answer 2

Random or unrestrained and autocratic in the use of authority

Question 3

Bill of Rights

Answer 3

Civil liberties and civil rights are focused upon these 10 amendments

Question 4

Establishment Clause

Answer 4

Clause in the First Amendment that states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

Question 5

Free Exercise Clause

Answer 5

A First Amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion.

Question 6

Symbolic Speech

Answer 6

consists of nonverbal, nonwritten forms of communication, such as flag burning, wearing arm bands, and burning of draft cards. It is generally protected by the First Amendment unless it causes a specific, direct threat to another individual or public order.

Question 7

Defamatory Speech

Answer 7

the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of another. When in written form it is often called ‘libel’. Defamation has always acted as a limit on both the freedom of speech as well as the freedom of the press.

Question 8

“Clear and present danger”

Answer 8

test features two independent conditions: first, the speech must impose a threat that a substantive evil might follow, and second, the threat is a real, imminent threat. The court had to identify and quantify both the nature of the threatened evil and the imminence of the perceived danger.

Question 9

Prior Restraint

Answer 9

a form of censorship that allows the government to review the content of printed materials and prevent their publication.

Question 10

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Answer 10

Punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. Cruel and unusual punishment includes torture, deliberately degrading punishment, or punishment that is too severe for the crime committed.

Question 11

Statute

Answer 11

law enacted by congress to deal with particular issues or problems

Question 12

Selective Incorporation

Answer 12

a constitutional doctrine that ensures that states cannot create laws that infringe or take away the constitutional rights of citizens

Question 13

Miranda Rights

Answer 13

Requirement that police inform suspects that they have a right to remain silent and a right to have counsel while being interrogated. (You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you)

Question 14

Pretrial Rights

Answer 14

A crime victim has the right to be notified by the district attorney of the release hearing upon timely request. A crime victim has the right to appear personally at the release hearing and to reasonably express any views relevant to the issues before the magistrate.

Question 15

Unreasonable Searches and Seizures

Answer 15

The Constitution, through the Fourth Amendment, protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. The Fourth Amendment, however, is not a guarantee against all searches and seizures, but only those that are deemed unreasonable under the law.

Question 16

Warrantless Searches

Answer 16

government officers carry out a search or arrest without a warrant or any other legal authorization. The requirement of a warrant serves to protect individuals’ privacy interests against unreasonable governmental intrusion.

Question 17

Right to Legal Counsel

Answer 17

Under Supreme Court case law, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel specifically requires that each and every adult who cannot afford to hire a lawyer at prevailing compensation rates in his jurisdiction must be given a qualified and trained lawyer.

Question 18

Speedy and Public Trial

Answer 18

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation

Question 19

Patriot Act/USA Freedom Acts

Answer 19

Strengthens the federal government’s power to conduct surveillance, perform searches, and detain individuals in order to combat terrorism / bans the bulk collection of Americans’ private records

Question 20

Due Process Clause

Answer 20

exactly like a similar provision in the Fifth Amendment, which only restricts the federal government. It states that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” Usually, “due process” refers to fair procedures

Question 21

Exclusionary Rule

Answer 21

a law that prohibits the use of illegally obtained evidence in a criminal trial.

Question 22

Right of Privacy

Answer 22

the right of a person to be free from unwarranted publicity, the unwarranted appropriation or exploitation of one’s personality, the publicizing of one’s private affairs with which the public has no legitimate concern

Question 23

Infringement

Answer 23

a violation, a breach, or an unauthorized act. Infringement occurs in various situations. A harm to one’s right is an infringement. A violation of a statute is also an infringement.

Question 24

Civil Rights

Answer 24

the protections from discrimination based on gender, race, or religion

Question 25

Discrimination

Answer 25

the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.

Question 26

Equal Protection Clause

Answer 26

the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws. The governing body state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances.

Question 27

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Answer 27

prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Question 28

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972

Answer 28

prohibits sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity) discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Question 29

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Answer 29

outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.

Question 30

Minority Rights

Answer 30

A principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities and allows that they might join majorities through persuasion and reasoned argument.

Question 31

Majority-Minority Districting

Answer 31

an electoral district, such as a United States congressional district, in which the majority of the constituents in the district are racial or ethnic minorities

Question 32

Engel v Vitale

Answer 32

established a precedent that was used to significantly limit government-directed prayer in public school systems through several subsequent landmark Supreme Court decisions

Question 33

Wisconsin v Yoder

Answer 33

developed the precedent that parents were allowed to educate their children outside of either the public school system or traditional private schools. In doing so, it prioritized the free exercise of religion over state interests.

Question 34

Tinker v Des Moines

Answer 34

neither students nor teachers “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate, widely considered the watershed of students’ free speech rights at school

Question 35

Schenck v United States

Answer 35

the Supreme Court invented the famous “clear and present danger” test to determine when a state could constitutionally limit an individual’s free speech rights under the First Amendment.

Question 36

New York Times v United States

Answer 36

defended the First Amendment right of free press against prior restraint by the government.

Question 37

McDonald v Chicago

Answer 37

expanded the meaning of the Second Amendment to mean the right to keep and bear arms for non-militia purposes. The McDonald v. City of Chicago significance sprouts from the fact that the Second Amendment is applied by all state and local governments nationwide.

Question 38

Gideon v Wainwright

Answer 38

the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial guaranteed all defendants facing imprisonment a right to an attorney, not just those in death penalty cases.

Question 39

Roe v Wade

Answer 39

the right to privacy implied in the 14th Amendment protected abortion as a fundamental right

Question 40

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Answer 40

It says that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take direct action rather than waiting potentially forever for justice to come through the courts.

Question 41

Brown v Board of Education

Answer 41

the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional

Question 42

Strict Scrutiny

Answer 42

a form of judicial review that courts use to determine the constitutionality of certain laws. Strict scrutiny is often used by courts when a plaintiff sues the government for discrimination.

Question 43

Fighting Words

Answer 43

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

Question 44

Bill of Attainder

Answer 44

A legislative act that provides for the punishment of a person without a court trial.

Question 45

Ex Post Facto Law

Answer 45

a law that imposes criminal liability or increases criminal punishment retroactively.

Question 46

Good Faith Exception

Answer 46

An exception to the Supreme Court exclusionary rule, holding that evidence seized on the basis of a mistakenly issued search warrant can be introduced at trial if the mistake was made in good faith, that is, if all the parties involved had reason at the time to believe that the warrant was proper.

Question 47

Invidious Discrimination

Answer 47

Discriminations against persons or groups that works to their harm is based on animosity.

Question 48

Benign Discrimination

Answer 48

the singling out by the state of a. designated group for more favorable treatment than is accorded to. others.

Question 49

Equality of Opportunity

Answer 49

Equality of opportunity looks to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities to make those gains

Question 50

Equality of Outcome

Answer 50

Equality of outcome looks to ensure people who are disadvantaged are making gains

Question 51

De Jure Segregation

Answer 51

separation that was mandated by law and enforced by the government.

Question 52

De Facto Segregation

Answer 52

separation that exists even though laws do not require it — persists to the present day.

Question 53

Civil War Amendments

Answer 53

thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth

Question 54

Thirteenth Amendment

Answer 54

abolished slavery.

Question 55

Fourteenth Amendment

Answer 55

gave citizenship to all people born in the US.

Question 56

Fifteenth Amendment

Answer 56

allowed black men the right to vote.

Question 57

Nineteenth Amendment

Answer 57

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex

Question 58

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Answer 58

The ERA is a constitutional amendment which would prohibit denying or abridging equal rights under law by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Question 59

Regents v Bakke

Answer 59

held that a university’s admissions criteria which used race as a definite and exclusive basis for an admission decision violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Question 60

Gratz v Bollinger

Answer 60

The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a public university from using an undergraduate admissions policy in which race is the sole reason behind awarding 20 percent of the minimum points required for admission.

Question 61

Grutter v Bollinger

Answer 61

upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School. The decision permitted the use of racial preference in student admissions to promote student diversity.

Question 62

Fisher v University of Texas

Answer 62

held that the race-conscious admissions program used by the University of Texas at Austin (“UT”) was lawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.