Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Question 1

civil liberties

Answer 1

These protections against government power embodied in the Bill of Rights and similar legislation. Civil liberties include the right to free speech, free exercise of religion, and the right to a fair trial

Question 2

selective incorporation

Answer 2

Process by which the Supreme Court has selectively applied the fourteenth Amendment

Question 3

indictment

Answer 3

A written statement of criminal charges brought against a defendant. Indictments guarantee that defendants know the charges against them so they can plan a defense

Question 4

First amendment guarantees

Answer 4

freedom of speech
press
petition
assembly
religion

Question 5

clear and present danger test

Answer 5

Interpretation by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes regarding limits on free speech if it presents a clear and present danger to the public

Question 6

libel

Answer 6

false defamatory speech in more permanent forms

Question 7

slander

Answer 7

false defamatory speech

Question 8

obscenity

Answer 8

category of speech unprotected by the First Amendment. Obscenity laws are concerned with prohibiting lewd, filthy, or disgusting words or pictures.

Question 9

preferred position doctrine

Answer 9

freedom of speech is fundamental to liberty, any limits on free speech must address severe,imminent threats to the nation

Question 10

prior restraint

Answer 10

Censorship of news material before its made public

Question 11

shield laws

Answer 11

Law guarrenting news reporters the right to protect the anonymity of their sources. No federal shield law

Question 12

three part obscenity test

Answer 12

Supreme Court’s test for determining whether speech or expression can be labeled obscene, in which case it is not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and can be prohibited
Would the average person, applying community standards, judge the work as appealing primarily to people’s baser sexual instinct
Does the work lack other value, or it is also of literary, artistic, political or scientific interest?
Does the work depict sexual behavior in an offensive manner?

Question 13

freedom of association

Answer 13

combined rights of freedom of speech and and freedom assembly imply freedom of association

Question 14

probable cause

Answer 14

A judge is convinced that the search is likely to uncover evidence of illegality

Question 15

search warrant

Answer 15

limits where the police may search and what they may take as evidence

Question 16

exclusionary rule

Answer 16

Evidence found by police that disregard the search warrant may not be admitted as evidence in trial

Question 17

objective good faith

Answer 17

Exception to the exclusionary rule that allows the use of illegally obtained evidence at trial if the court determines that police believed they were acting within the limits of the search warrant when they seized the evidence

Question 18

inevitable discovery rule

Answer 18

Exception to the exclusionary rule that allows the use of illegally obtained evidence at trial if the court determines that the evidence would have eventually been found by legal means

Question 19

exigent circumstances

Answer 19

reason to believe that someone may be harmed or evidence may disappear by the time they received a search warrant and returned

Question 20

the establishment clause

Answer 20

Section of the constitution that prohibits the government from designating one faith as the official religion of the United States

Question 21

free exercise

Answer 21

government may not prevent individuals from practicing their faiths

Question 22

civil rights

Answer 22

These protections against discrimination by the government and individuals. Civil rights are intended to prevent discrimination based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, physical disabilities or sexual orientation

Question 23

Lemon Test

Answer 23

In deciding whether a law violates the establishment clause
named after Lemon v Kurtzman 1971
Does the law have a secular, rather than religious purpose ?
Does the law neither promote nor discourage religion?
Does the law avoid “excessive entanglement” of the government and religious institutions?

Question 24

grand jury

Answer 24

the fifth amendment guarantees a grand jury when a suspect is held for a capital or other “infamous” crime

Question 25

double jeopardy

Answer 25

The act of trying an individual a second time after he has been acquitted on the same charges. Double jeopardy is prohibited by the Constitution

Question 26

eminent domain

Answer 26

The power of the government to take away property for public use as long as there is just compensation for property taken

Question 27

due process of law

Answer 27

Established legal procedures for the arrest and trial of an accused criminal

Question 28

Rights granted to the accused

Answer 28

fundamental protection against governmental abuse of power

Question 29

self-incrimination

Answer 29

The Constitution protects individuals from Self-incrimination
A defendant cannot be forced to testify and, and the jury instructed not to infer guilt when a defendant chooses not to testify
A defendant must be notified of their right to remain silent, their right to a lawyer, and their protection against self-incrimination at the time of their arrest

Question 30

habeas corpus

Answer 30

The Sixth Amendment forms the basis of habeas corpus
protects against unlawful imprisonment and ensures that a person cannot be held indefinitely without being formally charged before a judge or in a court

Question 31

implied rights to privacy

Answer 31

The Court ruled that the First,Third,Fourth,Fifth,Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendment’s added up to guarantee the right to privacy

Question 32

de facto segregation

Answer 32

a situation in which legislation did not overtly segregate students by race, but nevertheless school segregation continued

Question 33

de jure segregation

Answer 33

segregation by law

Question 34

Affirmative action

Answer 34

seek to create special employment opportunities for minorities,women, and people who suffer from discrimination

Question 35

reverse discrimination

Answer 35

illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964
discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group.

Question 36

Emancipation proclamation

Answer 36

declared the liberation of enslaved people in rebel states

Question 37

Equal Protection

Answer 37

the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws.

Question 38

Dred Scott v Sandford (1857)

Answer 38

ruled that enslaved people and their descendants were not citizens

Question 39

Family and medical leave act of 1993

Answer 39

gives 12 weeks of unpaid leave to parents of newborns

Question 40

Jim Crow Laws

Answer 40

State and local laws passed in the post-Reconstruction era south to enforce segregation and otherwise restrict the rights of African Americans

Question 41

Poll taxes

Answer 41

Poll taxes

a tax that must be payed in order to vote

Question 42

Grandfather clause

Answer 42

To allow poor white illiterates to vote some states passed grandfather clauses that exempted from these restrictions anyone whose grandfather had voted

Question 43

judicial review

Answer 43

The Supreme Court’s power to strike down acts of United States Congress that conflict with the Constitution

Question 44

Sexual harassment

Answer 44

sexist or sexual behavior-physical or verbal-that creates a hostile work environment

Question 45

Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988

Answer 45

specifies that entities receiving federal funds must comply with civil rights legislation in all of their operations, not just in the program or activity that received the funding.

Question 46

Equal rights amendment

Answer 46

Failed constitutional amendment that would have guaranteed equal protection under the law for women (1970s)