Amendments Flashcards
1st Amendment - Freedom of Religion
- The Establishment Clause: limited government from creating a national religion or promoting/endorsing one specific religion
- The Free Exercise Clause: protects the rights of individuals to worship or believe (or not believe) as they choose; valid, neutral laws that do not specifically target a certain religion/beliefs (may cause a slippery slope—makes too many reaches/goofy cancel cultures)
1st Amendment - Freedom of Speech
- speech is generally protected (pure speech/opinions, political speech, symbolic speech) except for those which are NOT (sedition/overthrowing government, obscenity, defamation/slander/libel, fighting words that provoke another person, false advertising, hate speech, speech intended to cause panic)
1st Amendment - Freedom of the Press
- the government may only punish the press activity that violates legitimate civil/criminal laws, but that may ONLY take place AFTER publication
- Prior Restraint: when the government may not restrain the press before publication; UNLESS: publication would cause certain, serious, and irreparable harm (C, S, and I); nothing other than restraining the press would prevent the harm; prior restraint would be effective in avoiding the harm
1st Amendment - Freedome of Assembly
the right to assemble in a group and to associate with others with a common interest; government can enforce rules regarding time, place, and manner of assembly (permits, regulation of the size of free speech zones); restrictions must be content-neutral
1st Amendment - Freedom of Petition
freedom to express your thoughts and opinions to the government and/or to ask the government to do something (petition = formal document)
2nd Amendment
right to bear arms
3rd Amendment
quartering
4th Amendment
privacy; needing a warrant/protection against searches
5th Amendment
- right to remain silent
- self-incrimination
- guaranteed due process (government cannot deny someone of life, liberty, or property)
- cannot be tried twice
6th Amendment
- right to speedy trial/impartial jury
- 5th + 6th: Miranda Rights
- Miranda v. Arizona (Miranda Rights): right to remain silent (5th Amendment) and right to an attorney (6th Amendment)
7th Amendment
$20+ = right to jury
8th Amendment
- no excessive bail
- cruel and unusual punishment
- the death penalty/capital punishment is not considered “cruel and unusual punishment”
9th Amendment
there are more rights for the people unstated
10th Amendment
powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states
11th Amendment
prevents states from suing states in fed. court
12th Amendment
changes the Electoral College (1st is Pres, 2nd is VP; Pres and VP ballots are separate)
13th Amendment
abolished slavery in the United States
14th Amendment
- Citizenship Clause (born/neutralized in the U.S.)
- Privileges and Immunities Clause (Southern states cannot go against the law to treat former slaves differently)
- EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE / EPC (all citizens must be treated equally under the law)
- Selective Incorporation: federal laws apply to state laws
15th Amendment
no discrimination of race for voting
- South still found loopholes w/ literacy tests, poll taxes, Grandfather Clauses (ancestors), Jim Crow Laws
16th Amendment
Congress issue an income tax
17th Amendment
- direct elections of Senators
- Tried to take powers from political machines but was not successful
- Governors have the power to fill vancancies
18th Amendment
FAILED!!
- declared the production, transport and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal, although it did not outlaw the actual consumption of alcohol
19th Amendment
women’s suffrage
20th Amendment
about presidents
