Bill of Rights
the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
Civil Liberties
The legal constitutional protections against government. Although our civil liberties are formally set down in the Bill of Rights, the courts, police, and legislative define their meaning.
Commercial Speech
communication in the form of advertising.
Cruel and unusual punishment
Eighth Amendment prohibits such punishment.
Eighth Amendment
Constitutional provision preventing excessive bail or cruel/unusual punishment.
Equal Access Act
Passed by Congress in 1984, which bars public schools from discriminating against groups of students on the basis of "religious, political, philosophical or other content of the speech at such meetings.
Equal Opportunity Rule
A right supposedly guaranteed by both federal and many state laws against any discrimination in employment, education, housing or credit rights due to a person's race, color, sex (or sometimes sexual orientation), religion, national origin, age or handica
Establishment Clause
Clause of the First Amendment's religion protection stating that the government may not establish or endorse a religion.
Exclusionary Rule
Judicial concept which provides meaning to the fourth amendment. The concept states that any illegally seized evidence shall not be used in court.
Fifth Amendment
Constitutional provision protecting a variety or rights including: 1) grand jury indictment for capital/infamous crime; 2) double jeopardy; 3) self-incrimination; 4) due process; 5) eminent domain.
First Amendment
Constitutional amendment protecting the rights of free speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition.
Fourth Amendment
Constitutional provision which prevents unreasonable search/seizure.
Fourteenth Amendment
Constitutional provision which states that all of those born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens. It further applies the Bill of Rights to the states through the due process clause of the amendment.
Free Exercise Clause
Clause of the First Amendment prohibiting the abridgment of the citizens' freedom to worship, or not to worship, as they please.
Incorporation Document
The legal concept under which the Supreme Court has nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the 14th Amendment.
Lemon Test
Legal standard which articulates whether an establishment clause violation has occurred. This includes: 1)the law must have a secular legislative purpose; 2) the law cannot promote or discourage religion; 3) the law may not involve excessive government en
Libel
The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone's reputation.
Plea bargaining
an actual bargain struck between the defendant's lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchange for the state's promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious (or add
Prior Restraint
a governmental action that prevents material from being published (censorship), has been consistently struck down by the Supreme Court in 1931.
Probable cause
police must have a good reason to arrest someone.
Right to privacy
a contrived right from unstated liberties in the Bill of Rights.
Search warrant
written authorization from a court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching for.
Second Amendment
Constitutional provision which provides for the right to keep and bear arms.
Self-incrimination
testifying against oneself.
Sixth Amendment
Constitutional provision protecting a variety of rights including: 1) speedy/public trial; 2) impartial jury in criminal cases; 3) informed of charges against; 4) confrontation clause; 5) attorney.
Slander
A false or malicious statement spoken that injures the reputation of another person.
Symbolic Speech
An action that does not consist of speaking or writing but that expresses an opinion (flag burning).
Unreasonable searches and seizures
obtaining evidence without a good reason.
Affirmative Action
A policy designed to give special attention to or compensatory treatment for members of some previously disadvantaged group.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
strengthened protections of individuals with disabilities by requiring employers and public facilities to make "reasonable accommodations" and prohibiting employment discrimination against people with disabilities.
Civil Disobedience
A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.
Civil Rights
Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals. (Any of the civil liberties guaranteed by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution and by the Civil Rights Acts)
Civil Rights Act of 1964
forbids discrimination in public accommodations and facilities.
Clear & Present Danger Test
Concept articulated in Schenck in which free speech may only be limited if words are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger of a substantive evil (Holmes).
Comparable worth
equal pay for equal worth.
De facto Segregation
segregation of racial groups that arises as a result of economic, social, or other factors rather than by operation or enforcement of laws or other official state action.
De jure Segregation
segregation intended or mandated by law or otherwise intentionally arising from state action. (Note: De jure segregation is illegal.)
Double Jeopardy
Protection under the 5th Amendment from prosecution of a person for an offense for which he or she has already been prosecuted.
Due Process Clause (Procedural/Substantive)
Constitutional provisions of the 5th and 14th amendments requiring fairness in all the government does. Further, the 14th Amendment's provision makes the Bill of Rights applicable to the states on a selective basis.
Equal Protection Clause
Section of the 14th Amendment guaranteeing that all citizens receive "equal protection of the laws." From a practical standpoint this clause has been used to bar discrimination against blacks and women.
Equal Protection of the Laws
provided by the Fourteenth Amendment mandating that all people be protected by the law.
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
A constitutional amendment originally introduced in 1923 and passed by Congress in 1972 and sent to the state legislatures for ratification, stating that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state
Fifteenth Amendment
provides the right to vote for Blacks.
Fruit of the Poison Tree Doctrine
Exclusionary Rule concept that states that not only direct evident, but any evidence flowing from an unreasonable search shall not be used in court.
Good Faith Exception
A fourth amendment exception which states that if police search in good faith, using an invalid warrant, properly obtained, evidence seized will be permitted as evidence in court.
Miranda Warnings
Series of rules taken from Miranda v. Arizona (1966) designed to protect the self-incrimination rights of those in legal custody. These include: 1) the right to remain silent & right to an attorney. Miranda only applies during custodial interrogation.
Nineteenth Amendment
Constitutional amendment adopted in 1920 that guarantees women the right to vote.
Obscenity
A form of unprotected speech in which the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material appeals to prurient interest.
Poll Taxes
taxes levied on the right to vote designed to hurt poor Blacks.
Suffrage
the legal right to vote.
Thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
Twenty-fourth Amendment
prohibited poll taxes in federal elections.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
a policy designed to reduce the barriers to voting for those suffering discrimination.
White Primary
practice where only Whites could vote in primaries.