| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Civil liberties? | They are personal fundamental rights and freedoms which no government carits peoples by any law, constitution, or court. |
| Due Process Clause | Fourth Amendment (federal), and Fourteenth Amendment (states) |
| First Amendment: | Establishment Clause, Separation of Church and State, Libel & Symbolic Spe Right to Privacy? Clear & Present Danger Doctrine? Obscenity & Pornogra |
| Criminal Law Amdts | Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth Amendments. Incorporation Doctrine? |
| 1919: Schenck v. U.S. | 1" Amendment does not anti-war protest during formal war; "Clear & Present Danger" |
| Abrams v. U.S. | 1" Amendment allows Government to send troops into a nation's civil war w/o formal declare |
| 1925: Gitlow v. New York | 14`h Amendment "incorporates" 1" Amendment's free speech clause and applies to state |
| 1927: Whitney v. California | 1" Amendment does not protect membership in groups seeking overthrow U.S.; Brandeisargues Holmes' "clear & present danger" test should favor "more speech, not enforced s |
| 1931: Near v. Minnesota | lat Amendment denies prior restraint of media -- unless (Near Dictum) troops put in bar |
| Strombere v. Calif. | 1" Amendment protects those who show a red flag; state law convicting a communist ove |
| 1932: Powell v. Alabama | 6`th Amendment requires defendants have a right to good legal counsel; Scottsboro Boys first time federal Constitutional criminal standards are required in state criminal trials. |
| 1935: Patterson v. Alabama | 6th Amendment holds that excluding black people from a jury list denies a defendant a f, |
| 1937: DeJonge v. Oregon | 1" Amendment allows one to attend a peaceful Communist Party rally. |
| Palko v. Connecticut | Bill of Rights has a priority "implicit in the concept of ordered liberty." (Justice Cardozcthese rights in 1st 10 Amendments are applied to states via 14'h Amendment Due Proces! |
| 1938: Lovell v. Griffin | 1" Amendment allows religious groups to distribute literature without city permit. |
| 1941: Edwards v. Calif. | Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 allows poor people to travel across state lines to live & worlcase overturned California's "anti-Okie" state law during the Great Depression. |
| Hague v. CIO | 1" Amendment upholds freedom of assembly for public forums; i.e., at city "streets and 1 |
| 1942: Chaplinsky v. N.H. | 1" Amendment does not protect profane public speech; Fighting Words Doctrine establi! |
| 1943: W.VA. v. Barnette | 1" Amendment allows school children a right not to salute nation's flag (seen as graven it the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witness children are protected in America's public schc |
| 1944: Smith v. Allwright | 15`h Amendment denies a state (Texas) a "white primary" election as it violates the right |
| 1946: Hannegan v. Esquire | 1'` Amendment denies government the ability to deny mailing of items deemed "offensive |
| 1947: Everson v. Bd. of Ed. | 1" Amendment Establishment Clause has "wall of separation" with regard to Church & |
| 1948: Shelley v. Kraemer | 14rhAmendment denies restrictive covenants/contractual agreements among white homed not to sell their houses to people of color. |
| 1949: Terminiello v. Chicago | 1" Amendment allows racist anti-semitic speech, overturning priest's disorderly conduct Justice Douglas: "the function of free speech under our system of government is to invite |
| 1951: Dennis v. U.S. | 1" Amendment does not protect speech about communism; talk can cause convictions. Dennis reflects America's "McCarthy Era" fears of communism; Yates v. U.S. (1957) limits it |
| 1951: Kunz v. New York | 1St Amendment allows person's public speech although earlier civil disorder. |
| 1952: Rochin v. California | 14th Amendment Due Process Clause outlaws "conduct that shocks conscience." |
| Burstyn v. Wilson | 1S` Amendment allows "sacrilegious" films; e.g., 1915 NY State cannot stop "The Miracle" showing |
| 1954: Brown v. Bd. of Ed. | 14th Amendment negates "separate but equal" doctrine in public/taxpayer-supported schools; thi historic case overturns Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) &100+ years of state segregation "Jim Crow" lai |
| 1957: Watkins v. U.S. | 1St Amendment denies government/HUAC power to force testimony re Communist Party. |
| 1958: Trop v. Dulles | 8th Amendment denies government power to strip one's U.S. citizenship for being WWII deser |
| Kent v. Dulles | 5th Amendment's Due Process Clause allows the right to travel; e.g., U.S. State Dept cannot de passport to a person (e.g., artist Rockwell Kent) who refused to sign a "noncommunist affidavit |
| Speiser v. Randall | 14th Amendment prevents states from requiring veterans sign loyalty oaths to get property tax exemption; e.g., California law was challenged successfully by ACLU lawyer Lawrence Speisei |
| NAACP v. Alabama | 1" Amendment + right to privacy guarantee freedom of association - with no punishment. |
| 1959: Smith v. California | 1St Amendment protects booksellers who cannot be found guilty of selling "obscene" material unless the government can prove he/she was familiar with the book's "obscene" content. |
| 1961: Mann v. Ohio | 4th Amendment Exclusionary Rule (barring illegally seized evidence) applies to state/local poll, |
| Poe v. Ullman | 14th Amendment does not stop a state from banning sale of new birth control pills (e.g., Connectic Justice Harlan dissent: the law is "an intolerable invasion of primacy in the conduct of one of most intimate concerns of an individual's private life." Leads to Griswold v. Connecticut (196 |
| 1962: Engel v. Vitale | 1St Amendment declares "it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayer |
| 1963: Abingdon v. Schempp | 1" Amendment prohibits state in-school Bible-reading law; upholds ruling in Engel. |
| Gideon v. Wainwright | 6th Amendment requires states to provide poor people charged with a felony free legal aid. |
| 1964: Escobedo v. Illinois | 6th Amendment right to counsel requires a questioned by police suspect to have a lawyer. |
| Jacobellis v. Ohio | 1" Amendment allows theatres to show porn films; J. Stewart "knew [porn] when he saw it." |
| NY Times v. Sullivan | 1" Amendment allow media criticism of "public" persons (who put themselves into public deba |
| Bat ett v. Bullitt | 1" Amendment prohibits state loyalty oaths of states employees because of vagueness. |
| Reynolds v. Sims | 14th Amendment requires state legislative districts reflect fair "one person, one vote" rule. |
| Carroll v. Princess Anne Co. | lSt Amendment denies a county's ban of a rally without notifying organizers of the injunctioi |
| 1965: U.S. v. Seeger | 1St Amendment gives CO status to anti-war religious protestors w/ no belief in a supreme beit |
| Griswold v. Connecticut | Bill of Rights (1st/4th/5th/9th Amendments) gives persons implied "marital privacy" via 14th Am |
| Lamont v. Postmaster | lSt Amendment ended federal law allowing govt to detain/destroy all unsealed mail from abroad General deemed "communist political propaganda" - unless addressee requested delivery in writing. |
| 1966: Miranda v. Arizona | 5th Amdt right against self-incrimination+6th Amdt right to counsel applies to police suspects; "Miranda warnings" require police must inform suspects of rights before questioning them |
| Bond v. Floyd | lSt Amdt prevents government from denying legislators w/ unpopular beliefs their elected sea |
| Sheppard v. Maxwell | 6th Amendment guarantee of fair trial is superior to 1" Amdt guarantee of freedom of the pre |
| 1967: Loving v. Virginia | 14th Amendment Equal Prot. Clause allows "freedom to marry"; ends 17 state racial restrictioi U.S. Supreme Court declares "The freedom to marry... one of the basic civil rights of man." |
| Keyishian v. Regents | 1St Amendment allows public school teachers the right NOT to sign loyalty oaths. Public employment is not a "privilege" to which government can attach any condition it pleases. |
| In Re Gault | 14th Amendment Due Process Clause allows requirements for state delinquency proceedings. |
| Gault established (Vt time) | the broad principle that young persons have constitutional rights. |
| 1968: Epperson v. Arkansas | 1" Amendment allows teaching "mankind ascended/descended from lower order of animals" |
| O'Brien v. U.S. | lSt Amendment does not allow anti-war protest by burning of federal-issued draft cards. |
| Washington v. Lee | 14th Amendment requires state prisons and jails to be racially-integrated. |
| Levy v. Louisiana | 14th Amendment allows an illegitimate child the right to recover damages for a parent's deat the accidental circumstance of a child's birth does not justify discrimination by government. |
| King v. Smith | 14th Amendment prohibits "man in the house" rule that denied welfare to children whose unmarried mothers lived with men; this decision benefited an estimated 500,000 poor childrewho had previously been excluded from aid. |
| Lee v. Washington | 14th Amendment outlaws state laws requiring racial segregation in prisons/jails; e.g., Alabam |
| 1969: Brandenburg v. Ohio | 1" Amendment allows unpopular political advocacy; 1940 Smith Act & all state sedition laws. |
| Tinker v. Des Moines | 1't Amendment symbolic speech allows school kids to protest (e.g., wear black arm bans);they don't "shed constitutional rights to freedom of speech/expression at schoolhouse gate" |
| Stanley v. Georgia | 1" Amdt keeps states from "controlling a person's private thoughts" (e.g., books/videos in home) |
| Watts v. U. S. | 1" Amendment allows "political hyperbole" threats against the life of the U.S. President. |
| Gregory v. Chicago | 1" Amendment protects peaceful demonstrators from arrest when disorder is created by a hostile audience; e.g., a "heckler's veto." U.S. Supreme Court overturned 9-0 the conviction of comedian Dick Gregory + others for disorderly conduct for picketing Chicago's Mayor Daley. |
| Street v. New York | 1st Amendment overturned a NY state law convicting a man for burning the American flag to protest assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers (6/11/1963) in Jackson, Mississippi. |
| 1970: Goldberg v. Kelly | 14`h Amendment allows welfare recipients to notice/hearing before state can stop benefits. |
| 1971: Cohen v. California | 1" Amendment denies government the power to prohibit speech just because it is "offensive." |
| NY Times v U.S. | 1" Amendment denies government "prior restraints" not justified by threats to national security. "Pentagon Papers" case upholds (5-3) Near v. Minnesota (1931) & aids anti-VN War protest. |
| Reed v. Reed | 14`h Amendment denies government sex-based categories; women too can administer estate cases |
| United States v. Vuitch _ | "Right to privacy" allows "life & health of the woman" to include "psychological well-being, therefore allowing more women to obtain legal "therapeutic" abortions - although the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law used to convict a doctor who performed an illegal abortion. |
| 1972: Furman v. Georgia | 8`h Amendment prohibits "arbitrary & capricious" state death penalty laws (e.g., for rape) |
| Eisenstadt v. Baird | "Right to privacy" permits a reproductive rights activist convicted of giving an unmarried woman a contraceptive device; a Massachusetts law is illegal, & "privacy" idea advances. |
| 1973: Miller v. California | 1" Amendment allows "pornography" - not "obscenity"; 3-step test; before Internet; moot? |
| Roe v. Wade | Bill of Rights allows women control over their bodies to end a pregnancy in 1" 6 months |
| Doe v. Bolton | Bill of Rights allows the attending physician to decide if an abortion is "necessary." |
| Frontiero v. Richardson | 14`h Amendment negates a federal law that allowed a woman in the armed forces to claim her husband as a "dependent" only if he depended on her for 50%+ of his support, while a serviceman could claim "dependent" status for his wife regardless of actual dependency. |
| Holtzman v. Schlesinger | Article I gives Congress only the power to declare war; the President cannot declare war; ACLU took on Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman's lawsuit to halt President Nixon's bombing of Cambodia during VN War; the bombing was halted for a few hours, but later overturned. |
| 1974: Gertz v. Robert Welch | 1" Amendment allows more compensation to private persons for injury resulting from libel. |
| Smith v. Goguen | 1" Amendment allows one to put U.S. flag image on items; "contemptuous" image is vague. |
| U.S. v. Richard Nixon | Bill of Rights holds a government leader is not above law & not beyond reach of judicial review; ACLU filed the only Amicus Curiae brief arguing "There is no proposition more dangerous to the health of a constitutional democracy than the notion that an elected head of state is above the law and beyond the reach of judicial review." U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7/24/74 if a President withholds evidence needed in a criminal case, then Congress can impeach. Historic 8-0 case. President Nixon released secret tapes, & resigned as President 8/9/1974. |
| 1975: Goss v. Lopez | 14`h Amendment allows students notice/hearing before suspension by principal w/ no hearing. |
| O'Connor v. Donaldson | 14`h Amendment prevents unlimited confinement for a non-violent mental illness patient. |
| 1976: Buckley v. Valeo | 1" Amendment allows candidates to spend unlimited $$ on their own campaigns for office. |
| Neb. Press. Assn. v. Stuart | 1" Amdt gives a defendant right to appeal to U.S. Supreme Court for what was said/written. |
| 1977: Woodley v. Maynard | 1" Amendment allows the "right not to speak" and overturned a New Hampshire lawprohibiting Jehovah's Witness from covering up the license plate slogan "Live Free or Die." |
| 1978: Smith v. Collin | 1st" Amendment allows Nazis to march/protest in area where many Holocaust survivors live. |
| In Re Primus | 14`h Amendment allows lawyers to act who "further political and ideological goals through Associational activity"; a state can regulate lawyers who seek cases for financial gain; the South Carolina supreme court had reprimanded an ACLU lawyer for "improper solicitation" for encouraging poor women to challenge the state's practice of sterilizing welfare recipients. |
| FCC v. Pacifica | 1" Amendment does not allow some "indecent" words broadcasted on radio in prime time. |
| 1980: Prune Yard Shopping | 1" Amendment allows protest in a mall as it is comparable to streets/sidewalks; a California |
| Center v. Robins | law prohibiting distribution of political pamphlets on its property was overturned. |
| 1982: Board of Ed. v. Pico | 1" Amdt allows students "right to know"; school libraries can't deny "objectionable books." |
| 1983: Bob Jones U. v. U.S. | 14thAmdt allows IRS to enforce rules on "settled (racial) public policy" re private education |
| 1985: Wallace v. Jaffree | 1St Amdt Establishment Clause clashes w/ state "moment of silence" law allowing "voluntary prayer." |
| 1986: Bowers v. Hardwick | Bill of Rights does not guarantee right to privacy/sexual behavior for gays/lesbians. |
| Edward v. Aeuillard | 1" Amendment allows public school teachers not to give "equal time" to "creation science"+ evolution |
| 1989: Texas v. Johnson | 1St Amendment symbolic speech allows one to protest by burning/desecrating U.S. flag. |
| 1990: Crusan v. Dir. of MO | Right to privacy allows a patient's "living will" to be convincing evidence of a his/her wishes;Department of Health first "right-to-die" case; ACLU represented the family of Nancy Cruzan who had been in apersistent vegetative state for more than seven years after a car accident in Missouri. |
| 1992: R.A.V. v. St. Paul, MN | 1St Amendment denies any symbol/law "that arouses anger, alarm or resentment" as vague. |
| Planned Parenthood SE | 14th Amendment upholds abortions performed prior to "viability" of fetus in 7th month; it |
| PA v. Gov. Casey | reaffirms Roe v. Wade (1973); upheld parts of state law; O'Connor/Kennedy/Souter opinion |
| Lee v. Weisman | 1St Amdt Est. Clause denies inclusion of a prayer at start of public school grad. ceremony. |
| Hudson v. McMillan | 8th Amendment denial of "cruel/unusual punishment" prevents beating of shackled inmates. |
| 1993: Wisconsin v. Mitchell | 1" Amendment allows "hate crime" law punishing acts (not thoughts/speech) if jury findsvictim was hurt re "race/religion/color/disability/sexual orientation/nat. origin or ancestry." |
| J.E.B. v. T.B. | 14th Amendment prohibits a government prosecutor from challenging potential jurors withthe intent of disqualifying them from serving in a jury trial based solely upon their gender. |
| Church of the Lukumi | 1" Amendment allows slaughter of some animals in church service ("religious liberty"); |
| Babalu Ave v. Hialeah | the Florida city permitted its citizens to practice hunting & fishing for secular purposes. |
| 1994: Ladue v. Gilleo | 1St Amendment prevents town's law banning signs on private property w/ unpopular speech. |
| 1995: McIntyre v. Ohio | 1" Amendment denies a state power to prohibit the anonymous distribution of politicalElections Commission campaign literature. |
| Capitol Square Review | 1" Amdt allows KKK to put a cross in an area on Ohio State Capitol grounds used as public |
| Board v. Pinette | forum used by others - rejecting argument that display violated separation of church/state. |
| Hurley v. Irish-American | 1St Amendment does allow private groups/organizations to exercise the right to exclude Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual participants from their parades who do not share the values and message which the parade Group of Boston sponsors wish to communicate. |
| 1996: Romer v. Evans | 14th Amdt overturns state const. admt/public vote denying govt power to enact gay rights laws. |
| 1997: Reno v. ACLU | 1" Amendment denies Act of Congress to censor Internet/banning "indecent" speech as vague. |
| Chandler v. Miller | 4th Amdt right to privacy overturns state law requiring candidate urine test for public office. |
| City of Boerne v. Flores | 1St Amdt keeps govt from using religion to plan; outlawed 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act |
| Washington v. Glucksberc | The 14th amendment does allow a state to ban physically assisted suicide; Supreme Court Split 5-4. |
| 1998: Broadon v. Abbott | 14th Amendment applies ADA to persons in early HIV stages (even w/o overt AIDS symptoms). |
| Oncale v. Sundowner | 1964 Civil Rights Act's Title VII - which prohibits sexual discrimination & harassment in Offshore Services the workplace - applies to same-sex as well as opposite sex harassment. |
| 1999: Chicago v. Morales | 14th Amendment denies anti-gang loitering law targeting minority youth not involved in crime. |
| Saenz v. Roe | 1St Amendment outlaws res. req. for welfare applicants; citizens select states, states do not select citizens. |
| 2000: Stenberg v. Carhart | 14'h Amendment denies state bans on "partial-birth" abortions as too broad + not protecting women's health. |
| Santa Fe independent | 1" Amendment's Establishment Clause denies school policy allowing the student body to vote |
| School District v. Doe | at the beginning of each school year whether to have prayers before football games. |
| 2001: INS v. St. Cyr | Art. I allows immigrants to challenge deportation orders via habeas corpus - denying AG's claim that Congress had stripped courts of jurisdiction & reversing retroactive use of deportation laws. |
| 2002: Atkins v. Virginia | 8th Amendment forbids execution of mentally retarded - as "cruel & unusual punishment." |
| 2003: Lawrence v. Texas | Bill of Rights does not allow government to violate right to privacy/sexual behavior of gays/lesbians |
| Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) | overturned 6-3 by name; Justice Scalia writes angry dissent. |
| 2008: Boumediene v. Bush | U.S. Constitution guarantees right of habeas corpus to all under U.S. law - including prisoners; |
| 2006 Military Commissions Act denies Guantanamo detainees a basic Constitutional right. | 14th Amendment does allow a state to ban physician-assisted suicide; Supreme Court split 5-4 |
| 1998: Broadon v. Abbott | 14th Amendment applies ADA to persons in early HIV stages (even w/o overt AIDS symptoms). |
| Oncale v. Sundowner | 1964 Civil Rights Act's Title VII - which prohibits sexual discrimination & harassment in Offshore Services the workplace - applies to same-sex as well as opposite sex harassment. |
| 1999: Chicago v. Morales | 14th Amendment denies anti-gang loitering law targeting minority youth not involved in crime. |
| Saenz v. Roe | 1St Amendment outlaws res. req. for welfare applicants; citizens select states, states do not select citizens. |
| 2000: Stenberg v. Carhart | 14'h Amendment denies state bans on "partial-birth" abortions as too broad + not protecting women's health. |
| Santa Fe independent | 1" Amendment's Establishment Clause denies school policy allowing the student body to vote |
| School District v. Doe | at the beginning of each school year whether to have prayers before football games. |
| 2001: INS v. St. Cyr | Art. I allows immigrants to challenge deportation orders via habeas corpus - denying AG's claim that Congress had stripped courts of jurisdiction & reversing retroactive use of deportation laws. |
| 2002: Atkins v. Virginia | 8th Amendment forbids execution of mentally retarded - as "cruel & unusual punishment." |
| 2003: Lawrence v. Texas | Bill of Rights does not allow government to violate right to privacy/sexual behavior of gays/lesbians |
| Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) | overturned 6-3 by name; Justice Scalia writes angry dissent. |
| 2008: Boumediene v. Bush | U.S. Constitution guarantees right of habeas corpus to all under U.S. law - including prisoners;2006 Military Commissions Act denies Guantanamo detainees a basic Constitutional right. |
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