| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Bill of Rights | a statement of fundamental rights and privileges. Especially the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. |
| Civil liberties | individual freedoms guaranteed to the people primarily by the Bill of Rights |
| Civil rights | A term used for those positive acts of government that seek to make constitutional guarantees a reality for all people or groups of people. For example prohibitions of discrimination. |
| alien | a citizen of another country; strange, foreign |
| Due Process Clause | A clause to the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that says no person shall be deprived of "life, liberty or property" without due process of the law. |
| Process of incorporation | The process of including most of the Bill of Rights into the 14th amendment's Due Process Clause |
| Establishment Clause | the First Amendment guarantee that the government will not create and support an official state church |
| parochial | church-related |
| Free Exercise Clause | the First Amendment guarantee that citizens may freely engage in the religious activities of their choice |
| libel | a tort consisting of false and malicious publication printed for the purpose of defaming a living person |
| slander | words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another |
| sedition | an illegal action inciting resistance to lawful authority and tending to cause the disruption or overthrow of the government |
| seditious speech | Urges resistance to lawful authority or advocates overthrowing the government. |
| prior restraint | censorship of or punishment for the expression of ideas before the ideas are printed or spoken |
| shield law | a law which gives reporters some protection against having to disclose their sources or reveal other confidential information in legal proceedings |
| symbolic speech | nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the first amendment. |
| picketing | The carrying of signs, which tell of an unfair labor practice or strike, by union members in front of the employer's business. |
| assemble | to bring together in groups, to gather. |
| content neutral | the government may not regulate assemblies on the basis of what might be said. |
| right of association | the right to associate with others to promote political, economic, and other social causes. |
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