Unit 3 Flashcards
What are civil liberties?
Personal freedoms protected from arbitrary governmental interferance/deprivations
What was the ruling of Shenck v. US (1919)? (REQ)
Speech representing “a clear and present danger” isn’t protected
What was the ruling of Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)? (REQ)
Students in public schools are allowed to wear armbands as a peaceful form of symbolic speech
What was the ruling in NYT Co. v. US (1971)? (REQ)
The gov. cannot exercise prior restraint (forbid publication ahead of time)
What was the ruling in Engel v. Vitale (1962)? (REQ)
School sponsored religious activities violate the establishment clause of the 1st amendment
What was the ruling of Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)? (REQ)
Requirements that Amish students attend school past the 8th grade violate the free exercise clause
What was the ruling of McDonald v. Chicago (2010)? (REQ)
The right to keep and bear arms for self-defense in one’s home applies to the states
What was the ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)? (REQ)
States must provide poor defendants an attorney to guarantee a fair trial
What was the ruling of Roe v. Wade (1973)? (REQ)
The right to privacy extends to a woman’s decisions to have an abortion, though the state has a legitimate interest in protecting a mother’s health
When are civil liberties limited?
When they infringe on public interest
What is public interest
The well-being of the general public
How has the Court rules that state law must adhere to most of the Bill of Rights
Thru selective incorporation
What is due process?
Limiting the top gov’s ability to ignore civil liberties
What does the 5th amendment establish?
No person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law”
What does the 14th Amendment establish
Born citizenship; created more equality for ppl of color
What are the rights not yet incorporated
- 3rd Amendment protections against Quartering troops in homes
- 5th Amendment right to a grand jury indictment in misdemeanor cases
- 7th Amendment right to jury trials in civil cases
- 8th Amendment protection against excessive bail
What is compelling government interest
a purpose important enough to justify infringement on personal rights
Under what circumstances can the gov infringe on personal liberties?
When there is compelling government interest shown
T or F: The gov has no prerogative of prior restraint
True
What is prior restraint?
The right to stop spoken/printed expression in advance
T or F: The gov can suppress a thought form entering the media
False: The gov cannot suppress a thought from entering the press just because most people find it offensive
What was the constitutional question and decision of Schenck v. US?
Q: Does the gov’s prosecution and punishment for expressing opposition to the military draft during the wartime violate the 1st Amendment’s free speech clause?
D: No
What are the facts of the Schenck v. US case?
- As the US entered into WW1, the Espionage Act prevented publications that criticized the gov or advocated for treason/insurrection
- Schenck tried to dissuade ppl from complying with he draft by arguing that it equated to involuntary servitude and violated the 13th amendment; did so thru antidraft letters
What was the reasoning behind the Schenck v. US decision?
The Court agreed that context was important when considering an expression. Due to the state of wartime and what the actions could lead to, it was deemed unconstitutional. The Court drew a distinction between speech that communicated honest opinion and speech that incited unlawful action (AKA “clear and present danger”).
What are time, place, and manner regulations
A test the Court does to evaluate regulations on symbolic expression
What are the elements of the time, place, and manner test
- Restriction must be content neutral (not suppress expression)
- Must serve a significant gov interest
- Must be narrowly tailored - designed in the most specific, targeted way possible to avoid spillover into other areas
- There must be adequate alternative ways of expression
What was the constitutional question and decision of Tinker v. Des Moines?
Q: Does a public school van on students wearing armbands in symbolic political protest violate a student’s first amendment freedom of speech.
D: Yes
What are the facts of the Tinker v. Des Moines case?
- 2 students planned to wear black arm bands with peace signs on them in protest of the Vietnam war to school
- Students showed up to school wearing them, and in support of parents, refused to remove them
What was the reasoning behind Tinker v. Des Moines
Students’ free speech rights remain when they are on school property, and the banners were a peaceful form of protest
What is obscene speech?
Speech that is super offensive; has a lose characterization, but is generally not protected by the first amendment
What did the Miller v. California case do?
Established the Miller test to serve as a standard in obscenity cases
What is a charge of libel?
False statements in print meant to defame someone and hurt their reputation
What was the constitutional question and decision in New York Times Co. v. US?
Q: Can the executive branch block the printing of reporter-obtained classified gov. information in an effort to protect national secrets without violating the 1st Amendment’s free press clause?
D: No, for NY
What are the facts of the NYT Co. v. US case?
- Before NYT, the SC ruled that a state law preventing the printing of radical propaganda violated the freedom of the press
- A pentagon analyst released the Pentagon Papers to the NYT; the papers put gov credibility in question
- Nixon petitioned on behalf of the US to refrain publishing for the sake of the US, but the SC ruled that a hasty cry of national security doesn’t justify censorship in advance and that gov doesn’t have the power of prior restraint on publications
In NYT Co. v. US, the Court ruled on the right to ______ documents, not on the right to _______ them.
print; leak
What does the free exercise clause in the 1st Amendment do?
It prevents the gov from stopping religious practice.
What 2 clauses in the 1st Amendment establish the freedom of religion
The establishment clause and free exercise clause
What does the establishment clause do
prevents the government from establishing a national religion
What was the constitutional question and decision of Engel v. Vitale?
Does allowing a state-created, non denominational prayer to be recited voluntarily in public schools violate the 1st Amendment’s establishment clause?
Decision: Yes
What are the facts of the Engel v. Vitale case?
- Prior to Engel, many schools started the day with prayer
- Parents sued the local school board because the official prayer was contrary to their religious beliefs and practices; argued that the prayer violated the establishment clause
What did Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) do?
The Court created a measure of whether or not a state violated the establishment clause
