Unit 3

Question 1

Civil liberties

Answer 1

The legal constitutional protections against government. Although our civil liberties are formally set down in the Bill of Rights, the courts, police, and legislature define their own meaning

Some examples include freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, right to due process, etc.

Question 2

Bill of Rights

Answer 2

The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution which define basic liberties

Incorporated to apply to states through the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment. Includes both freedoms and protections like freedom of speech and right to due process

Question 3

First Amendment

Answer 3

The constitutional amendment that establishes the four great liberties: freedom of speech, of the press, of speech, of religion, and of assembly

Includes Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause, prohibiting the United States from establishing a national religion and protecting the right to practice religion, respectively

Question 4

Barron v. Baltimore (1833)

Answer 4

Supreme Court decision holding that the Bill of Rights restrained only the national government, not the states and cities

This decision allowed states to disregard the Bill of Rights, so it was a motivating factor in creating the 14th amendment to incorporate the Bill of Rights to the states

Question 5

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

Answer 5

Supreme Court decision holding that freedoms of press and speech are “fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the states” as well as by the federal government

This was the beginning of incorporation, with the ruling deciding that the 14th amendment extending the first amendment protections on speech applied to states.

Question 6

Fourteenth Amendment

Answer 6

The constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil War that declares “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”

Has three main clauses:

• The Citizenship Clause - granted citizenship to All persons born or naturalized in the United States
• The Due Process Clause - declared that states may not deny any person “life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”
• The Equal Protection Clause - said that a state may not deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws

Used in ruling of landmark cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright, Griswold v. Connecticut

Question 7

Due Process Clause

Answer 7

Part of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing that persons cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property by the United States or state governments without due process of law

Applies both procedurally (the process used to try and convict defendants) and substantively (allowing courts to prevent government interference with fundamental rights)

Question 8

Incorporation doctrine

Answer 8

The legal concept under which the Supreme Court has nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment

Applies because of the Due Process Clause, guaranteeing that states may not deny any person “life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”

Applied to states through the process of selective incorporation, where the Supreme Court would incorporate parts of certain amendments, instead of all of them all at once

Question 9

Establishment clause

Answer 9

Part of the First Amendment stating that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”

Creates a “wall of separation” between church and state

Engel v. Vitale (1962), prohibited mandatory prayer in schools because it went against establishment clause

Question 10

Free exercise clause

Answer 10

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

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), prohibited compulsory education for Amish children past 8th grade because it infringed on their fundamental right to freedom of religion as outlined in the free exercise clause

Question 11

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Answer 11

Supreme Court decision that established that aid to church related schools must (1) have a secular legislative purpose; (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and (3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion

Created the Lemon Test with the above factors to ensure that policies do not violate the establishment clause of the 1st amendment by favoring or endorsing a religion.

Question 12

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)

Answer 12

Supreme Court decision that upheld a state program providing families with vouchers that could be used to pay for tuition at religious schools

Raised important establishment clause questions.

Question 13

Engel v. Vita (1962)

Answer 13

Supreme Court decision holding that state officials violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York’s school children

Victory for religious freedom, others thought it was an attach to religious traditions; more religious conservatives thus became more active in politics

Question 14

School District of Abington Township, PA v. Schempp (1963)

Answer 14

Supreme Court decision holding that a PA law requiring Bible reading in schools violated the clause of the First Amendment

In the future, any schools requiring religious reading would be a violation; In the same year, in Murray v. Baltimore School Board, 1963, the Court further clarified its rule about government and religion

Question 15

Prior restraint

Answer 15

A government preventing material from being published. This is a common method of limiting the press in some nations, but is usually unconstitutional in the United States (Near v. Minnesota 1931)

Prior restraints are a violation of the First Amendment, but three categories of speech may be restrained:

Obscene Speech - if the government can prove that expression is obscene, then the expression may be suppressed

Question 16

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

Answer 16

Supreme Court decision holding that protects newspapers from prior restraint

Infringement of the 14th amendment

Question 17

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Answer 17

Supreme Court decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft after WWI. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a “clear and present danger” of substantive evils

Demonstrated the limits to the First Amendment during wartime

Question 18

Roth v. United States (1957)

Answer 18

Supreme Court decision ruling that “obscenity is not within the area of constitutionally protected speech or press”

The Roth test for obscenity derived from Roth that included a five-part structure

Question 19

Miller v. California (1973)

Answer 19

Supreme Court decision that avoided defining obscenity by holding that community standards be used to determine whether material is obscene in terms of appeal to a “prurient interest”and being “patently offensive” and lacking in value

The Court modified the test for obscenity established in Roth v. US

Question 20

Libel

Answer 20

The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone’s reputation

Wilson v. Bauer was an example of a court case about defamation

Question 21

NY Times v. Sullivan (1964)

Answer 21

Supreme Court decision that established the guidelines for determining whether public officials and others could win damage suits for libel. To do so, individuals must prove that the defamatory statements were made with “actual malice” and reckless disregard for the truth

Valuable at times of political controversy and polarization

Question 22

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Answer 22

Supreme Court decision in which the Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American flag on the grounds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment

Debate on whether flag burning should be legal continues today

Question 23

Symbolic speech

Answer 23

Nonverbal communication such as burning a flag or wearing an armband; SCOTUS has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the First Amendment

Wearing buttons, armbands or other clothing items

Question 24

Zurcher v. Stanford Daily (1978)

Answer 24

Supreme Court decision holding that a proper search warrant could be applied to a newspaper as well as to anyone else without necessarily violating the First Amendment rights to freedom of the press

Reasonable under the 4th amendment

Question 25

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 25

Supreme Court decision holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional; forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitted states to limit abortions to protect the mother’s help in the second trimester, and permitted states to ban abortion during the third trimester

Currently the Court Case is deemed constitutional, however with new Justices having been sworn in by Donald Trump, the concern over this case rises

Question 26

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

Answer 26

Supreme Court loosened the standard for evaluating restrictions on abortion from one of “strict scrutiny” pf any restraints on a “fundamental right” to one of “undue burden” that permits considerably more regulation

States are restrained from prohibiting abortions

Strengthened the ruling of Roe vs. Wade

Question 27

Civil rights

Answer 27

Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals

The right to vote, the right to a fair trial, the right to use public facilities

Question 28

Scott v. Sanford (1857)

Answer 28

Supreme Court decision ruling that a slave who escaped to a free state enjoyed no rights as a citizen and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories

Determined through Article III of the Constitution

Question 29

Thirteenth Amendment

Answer 29

The constitutional amendment ratified after the Civil War that forbade slavery and involuntary servitude

Ratified by 27 of the 36 states to be passed

Question 30

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Answer 30

Supreme Court decision that provided a constitutional justification for segregation by ruling that a Louisiana law requiring “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” was constitutional

Eventually would be overturned by the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, where segregation in public schools was deemed unconstitutional

Question 31

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

Answer 31

The Supreme Court decision holding that school segregation was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. This case marked the end of legal segregation in the United States.

Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County (Virginia)

Question 32

Civil Rights Act of 1964:

Answer 32

The law making racial discrimination in hotels, motels, and restaurants illegal and forbidding many forms of job discrimination

Later further expanded with the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Question 33

Suffrage

Answer 33

The legal right to vote, extended by African Americans by the Fifteenth Amendment, to women by the Nineteenth Amendment, and to people over the age of 18 by the Twenty-sixth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920

Question 34

Fifteenth Amendment:

Answer 34

Constitutional amendment adopted in 1870 to extend suffrage to African Americans

Voting Act of 1965 limited the barriers states had on African Americans who were guaranteed the right to vote because of the 15th Amendment

Question 35

Poll taxes

Answer 35

Small taxes levied on the right to vote; used by most Southern states to exclude African Americans from voting; declared void by the Twenty-fourth Amendment in 1964

House of Representatives voted with a vote of 295 to 86

Question 36

Twenty-fourth Amendment

Answer 36

The constitutional amendment that declared poll taxes void in federal elections

Ratified in 1962

Question 37

Commercial speech

Answer 37

Communication in the form of advertising; can be more restricted than any other kind of speech but has been receiving increasing protection from the Supreme Court

A few examples include commercials, Internet ads and flyers.

Question 38

Miami Herald Publishing Company v. Tornillo (1974)

Answer 38

Supreme Court decision that held that a state could not force a newspaper to print replies from a candidate it had criticized, illustrating the limited power of government to restrict the print media

There is a law now that prohibits a newspaper from publishing replies from a candidate it criticized.

Question 39

Red Lion Broadcasting Company v. Federal Communications Commission (1969)

Answer 39

Supreme Court upheld the restrictions on radio and television broadcasting; these restrictions on the broadcast media are much tighter than those on the print media because there are only a limited number of broadcasting frequencies available

An example of the ruling from this case being applied is that there are now stricter restrictions on broadcast media.

Question 40

NAACP v. Alabama (1958)

Answer 40

Supreme Court protected the right to assemble peaceably when it decided the NAACP did not have to reveal its membership list and thus subject its members to harassment

An example from this case is that now the Supreme court protects peaceful assembly.

Question 41

Probable cause (PC)

Answer 41

The situation occurring when the police have reason to believe that a person should be arrested; in making the arrest, police are allowed legally to search for and seize incriminating evidence

For the police to search a house, probable cause needs to exist that evidence of a crime will exist in the home. Any of the following reasons will legally justify the police searching a house:

• Consent of a person who lives at the premises or is in charge of the home
• Searches incident to a lawful arrest
• Emergency situations which may affect someone’s life
• The police obtained a search warrant

Question 42

Unreasonable searches and seizures

Answer 42

Obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner; probable cause and/or a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search for and seizure of incriminating evidence

An unreasonable search and seizure is a search and seizure by a law enforcement officer without a search warrant and without probable cause to believe that evidence of a crime is present.

Question 43

Search warrant

Answer 43

A written authorization from a court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are looking for.

Police can get a search warrant to look for evidence in someone’s home.

Question 44

Exclusionary rule

Answer 44

The rule that evidence cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained

Under this doctrine, a court may exclude from trial not only evidence that itself was seized in violation of the U.S. Constitution, but also any other evidence that is derived from an illegal search. For example, suppose a defendant is arrested for kidnapping and later confesses to the crime.

Question 45

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Answer 45

Supreme Court decision ruling that the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures must be extended to the states

Based on the doctrine of “selective incorporation” which bans the states on passing laws that infringe on the rights of American citizens, as per the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

Question 46

Fifth Amendment

Answer 46

A constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double-jeopardy, self-incrimination, and punishment without due process of law

During a criminal trial, the Fifth Amendment pertains to more individuals than just the defendant. For example, a witness may refuse to testify if doing so would have him or her self-incriminate, even if the criminal conduct in question is not related to the actual case.

Question 47

Self-incrimination

Answer 47

The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in court; Fifth Amendment forbids involuntary self-incrimination.

Examples of compelled self-incrimination include instances where the police or other officials: Use threats of force, violence, or intimidation to obtain a confession. Threaten harm to a family member or loved one in order to obtain a confession or evidence.

Question 48

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Answer 48

Supreme Court decision that sets guidelines for police questioning of accused persons to protect them against self-incrimination and to protect their right to counsel

The Miranda Rights

Question 49

Sixth Amendment

Answer 49

A constitutional amendment designed to protect individuals accused of crimes; includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy and public trial

The right to a public trial

Question 50

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Answer 50

Supreme Court decision holding that anyone accused of a felony where imprisonment may be imposed, however poor he or she might be, has a right to a lawyer

Public Defender

Question 51

Plea bargaining

Answer 51

A bargain struck between the defendant’s lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchange for the state’s promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious (or additional) crime

A shortened prison sentence for testifying in a trial

Question 52

Eighth Amendment

Answer 52

The constitutional amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment, although it does not define this phrase. Through the Fourteenth Amendment, this provision does not apply to the states

The Death Penalty is legal under the eighth amendment

Question 53

Cruel and unusual punishment

Answer 53

Court sentences prohibited by the Eighth Amendment

Handcuffing a prisoner to a abar exposed in the sun for several hours

Question 54

Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

Answer 54

Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, stating that “It is an extreme sanction, suitable to the most extreme of crimes.” The Court did not, therefore, believe that the death sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment

“The Confession” by John Grisham

Question 55

McCleskey v. Kemp (1987)

Answer 55

Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty against charges that it violated the Fourteenth Amendment because minority defendants were more likely to receive the death penalty than were white defendants

“The Green Mile”

Question 56

Right to privacy

Answer 56

The right to a private personal life free from the intrusion of government

Abortion

Question 57

White primary

Answer 57

Primary elections from which African Americans were excluded, and exclusion that in the heavily Democratic South, deprived African Americans of a voice in the real contests; declared unconstitutional by SCOTUS in 1944

The Democratic Party units established white primaries in South Carolina (1896), Florida, Mississippi and Alabama (1902), Texas (1905), Louisiana and Arkansas (1906), and Georgia

Question 58

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Answer 58

A law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African American suffrage. Under the law, hundreds of thousands of African Americans were registered and the number of African American elected officials increased dramatically

Black voter registration rates in Mississippi increased from a mere 6.7 percent in 1965 to 59.8 percent in 1967

Question 59

Hernandez v. Texas (1954)

Answer 59

Supreme Court decision that extended protection against discrimination to Hispanics

Many Mexican Americans were classified as white but still faced discrimination until this ruling

Question 60

Korematsu v. United States (1944)

Answer 60

Supreme Court decision that upheld as constitutional the internment of more than 100,000 Americans of Japanese descent in encampments during WWII.

Japanese Americans were subject to camps violating the 5th Amendment

Question 61

Nineteenth Amendment

Answer 61

The constitutional amendment adopted in 1920 that guarantees women the right to vote

In the year the 19th amendment was ratified, more than 8 million women voted for the first time

Question 62

Reed v. Reed (1971)

Answer 62

A landmark case in which the Supreme Court for the first time upheld a claim of gender discrimination

Invalidated an Idaho law that required the selection of a man over a woman to serve as administrator of an estate when both were equally qualified

Question 63

Craig v. Boren (1976)

Answer 63

Ruling where the Supreme Court established the “intermediate scrutiny” standard for determining gender discrimination

Intermediate scrutiny is a test courts will use to determine a statute’s constitutionality

Question 64

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

Answer 64

A law passed in 1990 that requires employer and public facilities to make “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination against these individuals in employment

Buses now have ramps and many outdoor areas accommodate for those with physical disabilities requiring wheelchairs to mobilize

Question 65

Affirmative action

Answer 65

A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group

Many colleges have begun using affirmative action to increase the ethnic and racial diversity of their accepted class

Question 66

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)

Answer 66

Supreme Court decision holding that a state university could weigh race or ethnic background as one element in admissions but could no set aside places for members of particular racial groups

Attempting to reach a racial “quota” is unconstitutional, but affirmative action is accepted

Question 67

Adarand Constructors v. Pena (1995)

Answer 67

Supreme Court decision holding that federal programs that classify people by race, even for an ostensibly benign purpose such as expanding opportunities for minorities, should be presumed to be unconstitutional

Established that the presumption of disadvantage based on race is a violation of the equal protection principle in the Fifth Amendment