Mod 2

Question 1

Bill of Rights

Answer 1

Ten amendments added to the Constitution to protect individual liberties and rights from government interference

Question 2

Civil liberties

Answer 2

The rights of citizens to be free from undue government interference in their lives, including those rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and those established by long legal precedent (such as the right to marry or travel freely)

Question 3

Civil rights

Answer 3

The rights of citizens to be free of unequal or discriminatory treatment on the basis of race, gender, or membership in a particular demographic group

Question 4

Individual liberties

Answer 4

Constitutionally-established rights and freedoms protected by law from interference by the government

Question 5

First amendment

Answer 5

Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and to petition

Question 6

Second amendment

Answer 6

Right to keep and bear arms

Question 7

Third amendment

Answer 7

Right to not quarter (or house) soldiers during time of war

Question 8

Fourth amendment

Answer 8

Right to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure

Question 9

Fifth amendment

Answer 9

Rights in criminal cases, including due process and protection from self-incrimination; no person can be tried for a serious crime without the indictment of a grand jury

Question 10

Sixth amendment

Answer 10

Right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to an attorney, and to confront witnesses

Question 11

Seventh amendment

Answer 11

Right to a trial by jury in civil cases

Question 12

Eighth amendment

Answer 12

Right to not face excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual punishment

Question 13

Ninth amendment

Answer 13

There are other rights besides the ones listed in the Bill of Rights and the federal government cannot violate those rights

Question 14

Tenth amendment

Answer 14

All powers not given to the national government or prohibited to the states are reserved to states or to the people

Question 15

What is an underlying principle to the Bill of Rights?

Answer 15

An underlying principle to the Bill of Rights is that there are certain freedoms that the government should not be allowed to interfere with.

Question 16

Selective incorporation

Answer 16

Requiring states to uphold the Bill of Rights is made possible through selective incorporation. Selective incorporation is the process by which the Constitution effectively inserts parts of the Bill of Rights into state laws and constitutions. In this way, selective incorporation is an implicit, not explicit, process. The Supreme Court decides whether state laws are unconstitutional because they violate the Bill of Rights.

Question 17

Supreme Court & the Bill of Rights

Answer 17

The Bill of Rights protects individual liberties and rights: The Supreme Court is responsible for hearing cases and interpreting the application of the provisions in the Bill of Rights.
Since 1897, the Supreme Court has heard cases on potential state infringement of individual liberties and rights. The Court has found that the Bill of Rights must be upheld, even in states whose constitutions and laws do not protect fundamental liberties as fully as the Bill of Rights.

Question 18

Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?

Answer 18

When ratifying the Constitution, Federalists and Anti-Federalists disagreed about how individual liberties and rights are protected in the Constitution. The two groups eventually agreed to ratify (lawfully accept) the Constitution and add the Bill of Rights, a series of ten amendments that explicitly protects individual liberties and rights.

Question 19

Establishment clause (of freedom of religion)

Answer 19

the first clause of the First Amendment, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion;” this prevents the federal government from supporting an official religion and sets the United States apart from many European nations, which provide official government support for a national, or “established,” church

Question 20

Free exercise clause (of freedom of religion)

Answer 20

the second clause of the First Amendment, which prevents the federal government from interfering with its citizens’ religious beliefs and practices; the Supreme Court has upheld some limits on religious practices that conflict with secular laws, such as religious drug use or polygamy

Question 21

Lemon test

Answer 21

a 3 part test to determine whether a law violates the establishment clause devised by the Supreme Court in the 1971 case Lemon v. Kurtzman; based on the Lemon test, laws are constitutional only if:

(1) they have a legitimate secular purpose,
(2) neither advance nor inhibit religion, and
(3) do not result in an “excessive government entanglement” with religion

Question 22

Nondenominational prayer

Answer 22

prayer that does not advocate the beliefs of a specific religion but that acknowledges the existence of a divine being

Question 23

Secular vs. religious

Answer 23

Secular = nonreligious or unaffiliated with religion

Question 24

“Wall of separation” between church and state

Answer 24

a phrase coined by Thomas Jefferson in an 1802 letter, which described his view that there should be complete separation between the government and religion

Question 25

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Answer 25

(EV - Prayer Free) A case contesting a New York state law requiring schoolchildren to recite a nondenominational prayer each morning (although children could choose not to participate). A group of parents sued the state arguing that the law was a violation of the establishment clause; the Supreme Court ruled in their favor, judging that New York state was giving unconstitutional government support to religion by providing the prayer.

Question 26

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Answer 26

(WY - No High) A Supreme Court case concerning the mandatory schooling of three Amish students. The state of Wisconsin fined the students’ families for refusing to send them to school after the eighth grade; the Amish families argued that higher education conflicted with the free exercise of their religious beliefs. The Court ruled in their favor, holding that the First Amendment’s protections for free exercise of religion outweighed the state’s interests in compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade.

Question 27

Purpose of Freedom of Religion in First Amendment

Answer 27

Keeping a clear Balance between individual liberty and society order regarding religion.

The First Amendment prevents the government from supporting a religion and protects the free exercise of religion; citizens’ ability to worship, or not worship, as they please is a fundamental individual liberty. The Supreme Court has upheld some limits to free exercise, however; although individuals may believe whatever they want, the government may limit actions that break secular laws (society laws) if there is a compelling government interest at stake. Similarly, the Court has permitted some government support for religion, such as public funding for students attending religious schools.

Question 28

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Answer 28

(GW - No lawyer in front of you) In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Court ruled that state and local courts had to provide legal counsel to the poor and indigent.

Question 29

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 29

(RW - ) Roe v. Wade (1973) extended the right of privacy to a woman’s decision to have an abortion while recognizing compelling state interests in potential life and maternal health.