Civil Liberties and Court Cases
About this set
Created by:
EliseN2012 on April 8, 2012
Subjects:
Classes:
Log in to favorite or report as inappropriate.
Order by
96 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Barron v. Baltimore- 1833 | Bill of Rights does not apply to the states |
| Gitlow v. New York- 1925 | Supreme Court held that freedom of speech and of the press were among the "fundamental personal rights" protected by the due-process clause of the 14th A. from infringements by state (as well as federal) action. This case allowed the incorporation of the Bill of Rights to apply to State governments as well as the national government. |
| Near v. Minnesota- 1931 | Court would not allow prior restraint on the press |
| Palko v. Connecticut- 1937 | Supreme Court says that states must observe all "fundamental" liberties |
| Everson v. Board of Education- 1942 | the wall-of-separation principle is announced |
| Lemon v. Kurtzman- 1971 | Concerns aid to sectarian schools; Lemon test created to interpret the establishment clause. |
| Wallace v. Jaffree-1985 | Moments of silent prayer at school are unconstitutional---moments of silence are not. |
| Westside Community Schools v. Mergens- 1990 | Equal Access Act required public schools give EQUAL ACCESS to all groups including religious groups. *ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE |
| Sante Fe Independent School District v. Doe- 2000 | students may not lead prayers before the start of a football game at a public school |
| McCreary County, KT v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky- 2005 | Framed copies of the Ten Commandments in courthouses coupled with the Declaration of Independence is in VIOLATION of the establishment clause as government documents do not endorse Christianity. *ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE VIOLATED |
| Van Orden v. Perry- 2005 | Monument of the Ten Commandments outside the state capital NOT in violation since there are many different monuments outside and monuments are part of tradition. *ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE |
| Reynolds v. U.S.- 1879 | Court ruled that one cannot use religion as a defense to the crime of polygamy. Court ruled that religious practices that impair the public interest do not fall under the First Amendment. |
| Sherbert v. Verner- 1963 | 7th day Evangelical laid off for not working on Sat. and no gov. benefits Deserve benefits - violated strict scrutiny - there must be a compelling government interest as well as being least restrictive for achieving that interest. |
| Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith- 1990 | determined that the state could deny unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state prohibition on the use of peyote, even though the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual; states may accomodate otherwise illegal acts done in pursuit of religious beliefs, they are not required to do so |
| Church of the Lukuani Babalu Ave., v. City of Hialeah- 1993 | Court ruled that laws banning animal sacrifice were unconstitutional because they targeted the Santeria religion specifically. |
| Schenck v. U.S.- 1919 | The Supreme Court (in a unanimous opinion by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes) announced the "clear-and-present-danger test": whether the words used as used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent (famous comment that the Constitution would not protect a person who falsely shouts fire in a theatre and starts a panic) |
| New York Times Co. v. Sullivan- 1964 | A state cannot, under the 1st and 14th Amendments, award [libel] damages to a public official for defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves "actual malice" - that the statement was made with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard of whether it was true or false |
| Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District- 1969 | Freedom of speech held to include students wearing black armbands at school to protest the Vietnam War. |
| New York Times Co. v. U.S.- 1971 | "Pentagon Papers" case decided Nixon's attempted "prior restraint" was unconstitutional interference w/ press freedom. |
| Miller v. California- 1973 | A first amendment case. The Court defined obscenity. To be obscene, the work, taken as a whole, must be judged by "the average person applying contemporary community standards" to appeal to the "prurient interest" or to depict "in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law" and to lack "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." |
| Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser- 1986 | gave public school officials authority to suspend students for speech considered to be lewd or indecent |
| Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier- 1988 | Freedom of the press is different for students. Principles can censor school newspapers. |
| Texas v. Johnson- 1989 | Flag burning case. State statutes against flag desecration are unconstitutional limits on freedom of speech. Symbolic speech is protected by the constitution. |
| Morse v. Fredeerick- 2007 | "Bong Hits 4 Jesus"; limited students' free speech rights; Frederick's free speech rights were not violated by his suspension over what the majority's written opinion called a sophomoric banner |
| NAACP v. Alabama- 1958 | Freedom of assembly can be monitored and ruled against, but still not denied. |
| Boy Scouts of America v. Dale- 2000 | private organizations' right of expressive association allows them to choose their own membership and expel members based on their sexual orientation even if such discrimination would otherwise be prohibited by anti-discrimination legislation designed to protect minorities in public accommodations |
| DIstrict of Columbia v. Heller- 2008 | Court ruled that a DC law banning hand guns was unconstitutional. |
| Mapp v. Ohio- 1961 | Began exclusionary rule. Courts cannot use evidence attained by police illegally. |
| Gideon v. Wainwright- 1963 | The state's refusal to appoint counsel for an indigent accused of non-capital felony violated due process clause . |
| Miranda v. Arizona- 1966 | criminal suspect's rights include being informed of rights to counsel and to remain silent |
| Furman v. Georgia- 1972 | The Supreme Court used this case to end capital punishment, at least in the short run. |
| Gregg v. Georgia- 1976 | Overturning Furman v. Georgia, the case ruled that Georgia's rewritten death penalty statute is constitutional. |
| New Jersey v. T.L.O.-1985 | Students may be searched by school administrators if they have reasonable belief---this is a lower standard than probable cause. |
| Plessy v. Ferguson- 1896 | upheld racial discrimination: "separate but equal" |
| Korematsu v. U.S.- 1944 | California was right to intern Japanese-Americans in camps during crisis of World War II |
| Brown v. Board of Education- 1954 | Overturned Plessy case. Racially segregated public facilities are unconstitutional |
| Regents of the University of California v. Bakke- 1978 | Supreme Court decision holding that a state university could not admit less qualified individuals solely because of their race. |
| Lawrence v. Texas- 2003 | Strikes down Bowers v. Hardwick; Sodomy laws are unconstitutional because the government shouldn't be going there, anyway; using substantive due process. |
| Grutter v. Bollinger- 2003 | The Court voted to uphold the constitutionality of the university of Michigan law school's affirmative action policy, which gave preference of minority students. |
| Gratz v. Bollinger- 2003 | The affirmative action program was unconstitutional because it was based on race |
| Griswold v. Connecticut- 1965 | a Connecticut statute forbidding use of contraceptives violates the right of marital privacy which is within the penumbra of specific guarantees of the Bill of Rights |
| Reed v. Reed- 1971 | in which the Supreme Court for the first time upheld a claim of gender discrimination. |
| Roe v. Wade- 1973 | Certain state criminal abortion laws involve the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment, which protects against state action the (impied) right to privacy in the Bill of Rights. |
| Webster v. Reproductive Health Services- 1989 | In upholding several restrictive abortion regulations, the Court opened the door for state governments to enact new restrictions on abortion. |
| Planned Parenthood v. Casey- 1992 | This case was an unsuccessful attempt to challenge Pennsylvania's restrictive abortion regulations. |
| Gonzales v. Carhart- 2007 | The Court upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. |
| civil liberties | the protections the Constitution provides against the abuse of government power |
| McCarthyism | The practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without any real evidence. |
| incorporation doctrine | 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 |
| Fourteenth Amendment | declared that all persons born or naturalized in the United States were entitled equal rights regardless of their race, and that their rights were protected at both the state and national levels. |
| equal protection clause | a standard of equal treatment that must be observed by the government |
| due process clause | denies the government the right, without due process, to deprive people of life, liberty, and property |
| selective incorporation | court cases that apply Bill of Rights to states |
| preferred freedoms | This doctrine holds that some constitutional freedoms, principally those guaranteed by the First Amendment, are fundamental in a free society and consequently are entitled to more judicial protection than other constitutional values |
| establishment clause | First Amendment ban on laws "respecting an establishment of religion" |
| free exercise clause | First Amendment requirement that law cannot prevent free exercise of religion |
| wall of separation principle | court ruling that government cannot be involved with religion |
| Lemon Test | Arose from the Lemon v. Kurtzman case in which any funds given to religious school cannot be used for secular purposes. |
| Equal Access Act | a United States federal law passed in 1984 to compel federally-funded secondary schools to provide equal access to extracurricular clubs |
| parochial schools | schools that have a religious affiliation |
| school vouchers | Money that the government provides to parents to pay their children's tuition in a public or private school of their choice. |
| freedom of expression | right of people to speak, publish, and assemble |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes | an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932. Noted for his long service, his concise and pithy opinions and his deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history, particularly for his "clear and present danger" majority opinion in the 1919 case of Schenck v. United States, |
| "clear and present danger" | law should not punish speech unless there was a clear and present danger of producing harmful action |
| "time, place, and manner" restrictions | The right of the court to regulate certain details of assembly out of public interest/a test for public assemblies; time- how long, what time; place- may limit assembly to certain streets; manner- what assembly is doing |
| symbolic speech | an act that conveys a politican message |
| "hate crime" | a crime committed against one group of people |
| speech codes | a coding principle is a rule governing what to say and how to say it in a particular context |
| prior restraint | censorship of a publication |
| libel | writing that falsely injures another person |
| "actual malice" | words that are meant to defame another |
| obscenity | any profane word, pictures, or practices. |
| "community standards" | the standards that the community hold with regards to the amount of obscenity shown in the area |
| preferred position | the right of free expression, through not absolute, occupies a higher, or more preferred, position than many other constitutional rights, such as property rights |
| imminent danger | punishment for uttering inflamatory sentiments will be allowed only if there is an imminent danger that the utterances will incite an unlawful act |
| neutrality and clarity | restrictions in speech cannot favor one group over another - there need to be clear rules set |
| least-restrictive means | the restriction should employ the least-restrictive means to achieve its end |
| John Peter Zenger | a German-American printer, publisher, editor and journalist in New York City. He was a defendant in a landmark legal case in American jurisprudence that determined that truth was a defense against charges of libel and "laid the foundation for American press freedom. |
| Pentagon Papers | documents that revealed various phone taps and shed light on the Watergate scandal |
| slander | spoken words that falsely injures another person |
| commercial speech | Advertisements and commercials for products and services; they receive less First Amendment protection, primarily to discourage false and misleading ads. |
| right to assemble | the right of the people to congregate for the discussion of public questions and to organize into political parties or pressure groups for the purpose of influencing public policy |
| right to associate | the right to organize for political, religious, or other social purposes |
| search warrant | a judge's order authorizing a search |
| indictment | A formal written statement from a grand jury charging an individual with an offense; also called a true bill. |
| grand jury | A jury that see the evidence in a case to see if there is enough to conduct a trial. They do not decide innocence or guilt. |
| substantive due process | Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; limits what a government may do. |
| procedural due process | Constitutional requirement that governments proceed by proper methods; limits how government may exercise power. |
| probable cause | reasonable cause for issuing a search warrant or making an arrest; more than mere suspicion |
| exclusionary rule | improperly gathered evidence may not be introduced in a criminal trial |
| "fruit of the poison tree" | The principle that prohibits the use of secondary evidence in trial that was culled directly from primary evidence derived from an illegal search and seizure |
| "good faith" exception | an error in gathering evidence sufficiently minor that it may be used in a trial |
| Miranda Rights | the requirement, articulated by the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, that persons under arrest must be informed prior to police interrogation of their rights to remain silent and to have the benefit of legal counsel |
| capital punishment | the death penalty |
| self-incrimination | testimony by a person that reveals facts that amy result in a criminal prosecution against him |
| Patriot Act | an act designed to increase federal powers to investigate terrorists |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.