Unit 6 Civil Liberties/Civil Rights
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fourfranklins on December 21, 2011
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61 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 selective incorporation | The process by which provisions of the Bill of Rights are brought within the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment and so applied to state and local governments. (process of incorporation) |
| 14th amendment | This 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. |
| freedom of speech | the right to express oneself, with words or actions (verbally or symbolically). This freedom is guaranteed in the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution |
| freedom of the press | the right to publish newspapers, magazines, and other materials without government restriction. 1st amendment |
| freedom of assembly | the right to gather with other people in public. This right is protected by the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution. |
| freedom of religion | People shall be free to exercise their religion, and government may not establish a religion. 1st amendment |
| slander | false and malicious use of spoken words |
| libel | false and malicious use of printed words |
| obscenity | an offensive or indecent word or phrase - Miller v California; quality or state of a work that taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex by depicting sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value |
| preferred position doctrine | freedom of expression should rarely if ever be limited; the freedom of speech is so essential to democracy that governments should only punish people for what they do not what they say |
| prior restraint | A government preventing material from being published. This is a common method of limiting the press in some nations, but it is usually unconstitutional in the United States, according to the First Amendment and as confirmed in the 1931 Supreme Court case of Near v. Minnesota. |
| rights of the accused | The protections that the Constitution guarantees to citizens who are accused of crimes: Free from unreasosnable search and seizure, right to a speedy trial, right to plead not guilty, right to be represented by an attorney, right to a court-appointed attorney if not able to afford one, right to summon witnesses and evidence in their defense, right to confront and cross-examine any witnesses against them, right to be presumed innocent until PROVEN guilty by a jurdge or jury beyond a reasonable doubt. |
| double jeopardy | being tried twice for the same crime (prohibited by the 5th amendment) |
| unreasonable search and seizure | obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner, a practice prohibited by the 4th amendment (probable cause and a search warrant are required for a search or seizure to be legal) |
| probable cause | reasonable cause for issuing a search warrant or making an arrest (reasonable suspicion of crime) |
| exclusionary rule | the rule that evidence, no matter how incriminating, cannot be introduced into a trial if it was unconstitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure. |
| objective good faith | exception to exclusionary rule that allows the use of illegally obtained evidence at trial if court determines that police believed they were acting within the limits of the law/their search warrant when they seized the evidence |
| inevitable discovery rule | exception to the exclusionary rule that permits the use of improperly obtained evidence when it would have been discovered eventually through legal means |
| cruel and unusual punishment | Punishment that does not fit the nature of the crime prohibited by the 8th amendment to the U.S. constitution. |
| implied right to privacy | The word privacy cannot be found in the Constitution of the United States, but generally referred to as a person's right to be free of government interference in those area's of one's personal life that do not affect other citizens. |
| due process | principle in the 5th Amendment stating that the government must follow proper constitutional procedures in trials and in other actions it takes against individuals (substantive and procedural due process) |
| Jim Crow Laws | Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites (included Literacy tests, grandfather clauses and poll taxes) |
| poll tax | Tax required to vote; prohibited for national elections by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) and ruled unconstitutional for all elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966). |
| grandfather clause | Said that a citizen could vote only if his grandfather had been able to vote. Another method for disenfranchising blacks. |
| Civil Rights Act of 1964 | This act made racial, religious, and sex discrimination illegal and gave the government the power to enforce all laws governing civil rights, including desegregation of schools and public places. |
| de facto segregation | Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice. (not by law) |
| de jure segregation | segregation by law |
| affirmative action | programs intended to make up for past discrimination by helping minority groups and women gain access to jobs and opportunities |
| Equal Rights Amendment | this amendment would prevent all gender-based discrimination practices; however, it never passed the ratification process. |
| abortion | the deliberate termination of a pregnancy |
| due process clause | 14th amendment clause stating that no state may deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law |
| Establishment Clause | Clause in the First Amendment that says the government may not establish an official religion. |
| Free Exercise Clause | the First Amendment guarantee that citizens may freely engage in the religious activities of their choice |
| parochial | church-related |
| secular | non-religious |
| sedition | the crime of attempting to overthrow the government by force or to disrupt its lawful activities by violent actions. |
| shield laws | state laws that give reporters some protection against having to disclose their sources or reveal other confidential info in legal proceedings in those states |
| content neutral | the government can regulate assemblies on the basis of time, place, and manner, but not on the basis of what might be said. |
| right to association | right to join others to promote political, economic, and social causes |
| police power | the authority of each state to act to protect and promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of its people |
| writ of assistance | blanket search warrants (4th amendment prevents this) |
| writ of habeas corpus | a court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court to explain why that person is being held in custody (intended to prevent unjust arrests and imprisonment) |
| bill of attainder | legislative act that inflicts punishment without a court trial (banned on the state and federal level) |
| ex post facto law | a law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed. The state legislatures and Congress are forbidden to pass such laws by Article 1, Sections 9 and 10, of the Constitution. |
| Miranda Rule | under this rule, before police may question a suspect, the must be told of his/her 1) right to remain silent, 2) warned that anything he/she says can be used in court, 3) informed of the right to have an attorney present during questioning, 4) told that he or she unable to hire an attorney, 5) one will be provided at public expense, 6) and told that he or she may bring police questioning to an end at any time. |
| preventative detention | a law which allows federal judges to order an accused felon to be held, without bail, when there is good reason to believe her/she will commit another serious crime before trial. |
| quota | a system that sets aside a certain number of jobs or admission openings for ethnic groups and women |
| reverse discrimination | Discrimination against the majority group |
| jus soli | The law of soil, which determines citizenship based on where a person is born |
| jus sanguinis | The law of blood, which determines citizenship based on one's parents' citizenship. |
| expatriation | the legal process by which a loss of citizenship occurs |
| denaturalization | Process by which a naturalized citizen may involuntarily lose their citizenship. |
| civil rights | positive acts of government that seek to make constitutional guarantees a reality for all people |
| civil liberties | Freedoms guaranteed to individuals and protections against government |
| symbolic speech | nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the 1st amendment. |
| picketing | Patrolling of a business site by workers who are on strike. |
| alien | a foreign born non citizen people who are not citizens of the country they live in |
| indictment | formal complaint that the prosecutor lays before the grand jury |
| bench trial | a trial where the judge alone hears the case (occurs if the defendant waives the right to a jury trial) |
| treason | violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies |
| refugee | one who seeks protection from war, persecution, or some other danger |
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