Civil Liberties/ Civil Rights

Question 1

Civil Liberties

Answer 1

personal freedoms, e.g., speech, assembly, religion.

Question 2

Civil Rights

Answer 2

protections against discrimination.

Question 3

Clear and present danger doctrine

Answer 3

judicial interpretation of Amendment 1 that government may not ban speech unless such speech poses an imminent threat to society.

Question 4

De Facto Segregation

Answer 4

segregation “by fact,” i.e., segregation that results from such factors as housing patterns rather than law.

Question 5

De jure segregation

Answer 5

segregation by law, i.e., segregation that is required by government.

Question 6

Double Jeopardy

Answer 6

being prosecuted twice for the same offense. Banned by Amendment 5.

Question 7

Due Process Clause

Answer 7

prohibits the national government (5th Amendment) and states (14th Amendment) from denying life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Question 8

Equal Protection Clause

Answer 8

14th Amendment clause that prohibits states from denying equal protection under the law, and has been used to combat discrimination.

Question 9

Eminent domain

Answer 9

the right of government to take private property for the public good. Fair compensation must be paid to the owner of such property.

Question 10

Establishment Clause

Answer 10

provision of Amendment 1 that prohibits Congress from establishing an official state religion. This is the basis for separation of church and state.

Question 11

Free Exercise Clause

Answer 11

provision of Amendment 1 stating that Congress may not prohibit the free exercise of religion.

Question 12

Grandfather Clause

Answer 12

Southern laws that excluded blacks from exercising suffrage by restricting the right to vote only to those whose grandfathers had voted before 1865.

Question 13

Grand Jury

Answer 13

determines whether or not to bring criminal charges against a suspect.

Question 14

Incorporation

Answer 14

applying the Bill of Rights to the states. A “total incorporation” view is that the states must obey all provisions of the Bill of Rights because of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. A “selective incorporation” view is that the Bill of Rights is to be applied to the states on a case by case basis, also via the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

Question 15

Jim Crow Laws

Answer 15

Southern laws that required racial segregation in places of public accommodation.

Question 16

Literacy test

Answer 16

Southern method of excluding blacks from suffrage by requiring that voters prove ability to read & write.

Question 17

Miranda Warnings

Answer 17

warnings that must be read to suspects prior to questioning. Suspects must be advised that they have the rights of silence and counsel.

Question 18

Plea Bargain

Answer 18

arrangement in which a suspect pleads guilty to a lesser offense in order to avoid a trial. The manner in which most cases are disposed of.

Question 19

Poll tax

Answer 19

Southern method of excluding blacks from exercising suffrage by requiring payment of a tax prior to voting.

Question 20

Prior Restraint

Answer 20

When a court stops expression before it is made, e.g., prohibiting a demonstration by a radical group because the assembly is likely to become violent. Presumed to be unconstitutional.

Question 21

Separate but equal

Answer 21

Supreme Court doctrine established in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Allowed state-required racial segregation in places of public accommodation as long as the facilities were equal.

Question 22

Bill of Rights

Answer 22

adopted in 1791 by the states two years after the ratification of the Constitution, it
established the basis of civil liberties for Americans.

Question 23

Fighting Words Doctrine

Answer 23

established in Chaplinsky v New Hampshire (1942), the decision
incorporated into state law the concept that the government can limit free speech if it can be proved
that the result of speech will cause physical violence.

Question 24

Gitlow v. New York

Answer 24

landmark decision in that the Supreme Court incorporated the First
Amendment to a state case for the first time.

Question 25

Incorporation of the 14th Amendment

Answer 25

doctrine that made the Bill of Rights apply to the states as a result of Supreme Court decisions. Even though the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868, incorporation started to take place in the 1920s. It reached a peak during the Warren Court in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Question 26

Indictment

Answer 26

a formal list of charges made by a grand jury and guaranteed in the Fifth Amendment.

Question 27

Living Will

Answer 27

a legitimate document that can be used to direct a hospital to allow an individual to direct a medical facility not to use extraordinary means such as life support to keep a patient alive. The doctrine was declared constitutional in the case of Cruzan v Missouri Department of Health (1990).

Question 28

Judicial Federalism

Answer 28

the extension of the Bill of Rights to the citizens of the states, creating a concept of dual citizenship, wherein a citizen was under the jurisdiction of the national government as well as state governments.

Question 29

Procedural Due Process

Answer 29

a series of steps that are established by the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Amendments that protect the rights of the accused at every step of the investigation.

Question 30

Separation of Church and State

Answer 30

Also known as the "establishment clause," it is part of the First Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the federal government from creating a state-supported religion

Question 31

Substantive Due Process

Answer 31

legal process that places limits related to the content of legislation and the extent government can use its power to enact unreasonable laws.

Question 32

Affirmative Action

Answer 32

programs for minorities supported by government as a means of providing equality under the law.

Question 33

Americans with Disabilities Act

Answer 33

act that required employers, schools, and public buildings to reasonably accommodate the physical needs of handicapped individuals by providing such things as ramps and elevators with appropriate facilities.

Question 34

Brandeis Brief

Answer 34

a friend of the court opinion offered by Louis Brandeis, in the Supreme Court case Muller v Oregon (1908), which spoke about inherent differences between men and women in the workplace.

Question 35

Immigration Act of 1991

Answer 35

act that shifted the quota of immigrants to Europe and aimed to attract immigrants who were trained workers.

Question 36

Nationalization of the Bill of Rights

Answer 36

a judicial doctrine of the Fourteenth Amendment that applied the Bill of Rights to the states in matters such as segregation.

Question 37

Plessy V Ferguson

Answer 37

case that ruled that states had the right to impose "separate but equal" facilities on its citizens as well as create other laws that segregated the races.