history unit 4 vocab
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20 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Writ of habeas corpus | a court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court to explain why they are holding the person |
| Bills of attainder | Prohibits a person being found guilty of a crime w/o a trial |
| Ex post facto law | Law that makes an act punishable as a crime even if the action was legal at the time it was committed |
| Appropriations bills | bills that allow for the spending of the governments money |
| Apportionment | Distribution of representatives among the states based on the population of each state |
| Gerrymandering | the drawing of electoral district lines to the advantage of a party or group |
| Standing committee | permanent committee that continues its work from session to session in Congress |
| Joint committee | A committee composed of members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate; such committees oversee the Library of Congress and conduct investigations. |
| Electoral College | a group selected by the states to elect the president and the vice-president, in which each state's number of electors is equal to the number of its senators and representatives in Congress |
| Conference committee | Committee appointed by the presiding officers of each chamber to adjust differences on a particular bill passed by each in different form. |
| Cloture | a procedure that allows each senator to speak only 1 hour on a bill under debate |
| Veto | the power or right to prohibit or reject a proposed or intended act (especially the power of a chief executive to reject a bill passed by the legislature) |
| Filibuster | a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches |
| override | An action taken by Congress to reverse a presidential veto, requiring a two-thirds majority in each chamber. |
| Commute | to change a punishment to one less severe |
| Reprieve | a warrant granting postponement (usually to postpone the execution of the death sentence) |
| Due Process | principle in the Fifth Amendment stating that the government must follow proper constitutional procedures in trials and in other actions it takes against individuals |
| Enumerated powers | Powers specifically given to Congress in the Constitution; including the power to collect taxes, coin money, regulate foreign and interstate commerce, and declare war. |
| Reserved powers | Powers not specifically granted to the federal government or denied to the states belong to the states and the people |
| Concurrent powers | powers that are shared by both the federal and state governments |
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