selective incorporation
The process by which the U.S. Supreme Court incorporated most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights into the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court selectively chose individual provisions rather than incorporate the entire Bill of Rig
establishment clause
A provision of the First Amendment that limits the power of Congress to create a state religion or provide aid to any religion by legislation. This restriction also applies to state governments through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
free exercise clause
A provision of the First Amendment that prohibits the national government from restricting on individual's right to the free exercise of his or her religion, as long as the religious practices involved do not violate the law. The ________ is also applicab
compelling interest
A test used by the courts in interpreting some civil liberties and civil rights issues that require the government to produce very strong and convincing reasons to justify its policies.
prior restraint
Censoring or preventing the publication of material before it is actually released.
sedition
Oral or written advocacy of rebellion against the government that is designed to overthrow the government
defamation
Spoken or written words that are false and hold an individual up to public ridicule and contempt.
slander
Spoken statements that publicly defame the character of an individual.
libel
Written material that publicly defames the character of an individual.
commercial speech
Advertising used for business purposes. The Supreme Court has granted First Amendment protection to certain forms of truthful commercial advertising when used by lawyers, doctors, other professionals, and corporations.
symbolic speech
The communication of ideas by certain acts (such as wearing an armband or flying a flag) to dramatize a person's beliefs.
exclusionary rule of evidence
A requirement that any evidence in a criminal case obtained illegally by police cannot be used as evidence in a trial.
self-incriminaition
Being compelled to be a witness against oneself. ________ is prohibited by the Fifth Amendment and is applicable to the states through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
grand jury
A jury that decides whether there is enough evidence to indict and bring to trial a person accused of a criminal act. ________ indictment is required in federal cases involving capital or otherwise infamous crimes.
indictment
A formal accusation of a named person with the commission of specific criminal acts; the _____ is made either by a grand jury or by a bill of information
bill of information
A method of obtaining an indictment in which the public prosecutor presents a written statement of the evidence to a judge or magistrate
double jeopardy
The retrial of an individual for a crime of which he or she has already been acquitted. ____ is prohibited by the Fifth Amendment in federal courts and by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in state prosecutions.
voir dire
("to see and to say") The process by which members of a trial jury are selected. Prospective jurors are questioned by the judge and/or attorneys who are handling the case.