AP Government and Politics Vocabulary

Rights to Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition

Right to Bear Arms

Prohibits Non-Consensual Quartering of Soldiers

Search and Seizure

Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process

Rights of Accused in Criminal Prosecutions: Rights to Jury Trial, to Confront Opposing Witnesses and to Counsel

Jury Trial

Protections against Excessive Bail, Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Non-Enumerated Rights

Rights Reserved to States

Suits Against a State

Election of President and Vice-President

Abolition of Slavery and Involuntary Servitude

Protects rights against state infringements, defines citizenship, prohibits states from interfering with privileges and immunities, requires due process and equal protection, punishes states for denying vote, and disqualifies Confederate officials and debts

Voting Rights

Federal Income Tax

Popular Election of Senators

Prohibition

Women's Right to Vote

Commencement of Presidential Term and Succession

Repeal of 18th Amendment (Prohibition)

Two-Term Limitation on President

District of Columbia Presidential Vote

Abolition of Poll Tax Requirement in Federal Elections

Presidential Vacancy, Disability and Inability

Right to Vote at Age 18

Congressional Compensation

Declares Congress shall make no law "respecting an establishment of religion

Oliver Brown in Topeka Kansas believed to be in violation of his 14th amendment, which is right to equal protection. The board of education argued that although they go to different schools they have the same things white students were getting. Court sided with Brown and found school segregation unconstitutional. (1954)

Dred Scott was a slave purchased in Missouri. His owners moved to Illinois and Wisconsin, both free states that prohibited slavery. They moved back to Missouri and Scott sued Sandford because he thought he should be considered a free man because he lived in Wisconsin and Illinois. The court ruled the slaves are not citizens and they could not bring a case to court. It also ruled that slaves are private property and could not be taken away from owners without due process. This case was one of the decisions that led to the Civil War. (1857)

Ogden was an investor with a steamship company and monopolized New York waterways granted to it by state law. Gibbons wanted to use the same waterways granted to him by a federal coasting license. Gibbons brought a case against Ogden and won because federal clauses should always take precedence over state laws. (1824)

Gideon was arrested for burglary and he was forced to defend himself because he could not afford a lawyer and after a judge refused to appoint one. After being sentenced to state prison Gideon sued because he thought his rights were violated. The court sided with him, deciding that the 6th Amendment required courts to appoint an attorney to a defendant who cannot afford one. (1961)

John Adams (a few days before leaving office) before assumption that Thomas Jefferson would claim power in 1801 appointed William Marbury as Justice of peace. William's papers were not delivered because Thomas Jefferson ordered James Madison to sit on it. While the court agreed that Marbury had the right to have his papers, it also ruled that he could not compel Madison to give them to him. It also ruled that giving Marbury the right to sue for this case was unconstitutional because congress could not extend a court jurisdiction beyond what the constitution provided. This case defined the boundary between executive and judicial branches. (1801)

Congress created a second bank in the US and Maryland wanted to tax it to stop its operations. The court ruled that Maryland did not have the power as sovereignty lies with the US and not with the states. Congress was also granted the power to pass laws on interstate commerce, tax collection, and financial credit under the necessary and proper clause of the constitution

Miranda was arrested for kidnapping and rape. He sued because officers did not tell him that he had rights against self-incrimination and to a lawyer being appointed if he could not afford one. The court agreed and the Miranda rights have been institutionalized ever since. (1966)

Louisiana had a Separate Car Act which ordered railroad companies to provide separate but similar accommodations for whites and coloreds. Homer was 1/8 colored and decided to sit in the white car. He said the law violated his 13th and 14th amendment rights. The court decided against him, supporting the separate but equal argument, which lasted until the Brown vs. Board of Education case. (1896)

Jane Roe challenged a Texas law criminalizing abortion. She sued the district attorney of Dallas, Henry Wade, in attempt to overturn the law. The court decided that women have the right to privacy and to make their own decisions. States however have the right to regulate abortion based on the trimester. (1973)

Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted for burning a flag during the Republican National Convention in Texas. The court overruled the state court, deciding that the action of Johnson was an extension of his first amendment. (1989)

Speech that involves only spoken words, without actions

Speech that combines spoken words with actions, such as demonstrations and picketing

Actions that are themselves a message, without spoken words, also known as ”expressive conduct”

A place such as a public park or street that is normally open to First Amendment activities

Speech or action that portrays sex or nudity contrary to societal standards of decency

Hurting a person's reputation by spreading falsehoods

Defamation using spoken words

defamation using written words

Abusive and insulting comments delivered face-to-face to a specific individual

Government control of free expression

Printing criticism of the government

Censoring a work before it is published

with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not

Ability of a hostile bystander to end a peaceful assembly

Part-time citizen soldiers who defend their communities in emergencies

A permanent army of professional soldiers

Orders allowing government agents to search anywhere and anyone they wanted

A type of general warrant used by British customs officials to search colonial homes and businesses for smuggled goods on which import taxes had not been paid

Court orders allowing certain actions, such as arrests or searches

A reasonable belief that a particular person has committed a particular crime

Legal doctrine that excludes from a trial any evidence seized illegally by police

A large jury, normally of twenty-three citizens, that determines if there is enough evidence to charge a defendant with a crime

A trial jury, usually of six to twelve citizens, that decides the facts in a civil or criminal case

Formal criminal charge issued by a grand jury when a prosecutor has enough evidence for trial

Formal criminal charge issued by a grand jury independent of a prosecutor

A sworn statement by a prosecutor that he has enough evidence for trial

Trying a defendant more than once for the same offense

Compelling a defendant to testify against himself

Questioning accused persons under oath to determine their guilt

Forcing the government to prove its case through evidence

The government's power to take private property for public use

the location of a trial

Isolating the jury from the community and the news media during trial

Process in which the defendant pleads guilty to criminal charges in exchange for a reduced sentence

Questioning potential jurors to reveal their biases and knowledge of the case

Excluding a potential juror without a cause

A court hearing where the defendant pleads guilt or innocence

A serious crime with a sentence of more than a year in prison

A minor offense with a sentence of a brief jail term or a small fine

The process of asking questions to challenge a witness's testimony

Testimony about the statement of a third party, rather than something directly observed.

A court order forcing a witness to testify or produce relevant evidence

Those lawsuits deciding disputes between private parties over noncriminal matters such as personal injuries or contracts

Those cases in which the government punishes individuals for committing crimes

Money or property posted as security to obtain release from jail pending trial

Factors that increase the severity of a crime

Factors that decrease the severity of a crime

Legal doctrine by which accomplices are convicted of murder-even if another person actually killed the victim-when it was committed as part of a felony such as kidnapping or robbery

A court order directing that an officer who has custody of a prisoner show cause why the prisoner is being held

Those rights not specifically listed in the Constitution

The system of shared power between national and state governments

Doctrine that the states have sovereign powers equal to the national government

The supremacy of the federal government over the states

Doctrine that states can declare an act of federal government to be null and void-also known as interposition.

Doctrine that sovereign government cannot be sued without its consent

Process by which the Supreme Court has applied the Bill of Rights to the states through the fourteenth amendment

Doctrine that the content of a law must be fair, not just its procedures

The process of extending certain "fundamental" rights in the the bill of rights to the states

The process of applying all the provisions in the Bill of Rights to the states

American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States

an official act taken by all 13 American colonies in declaring independence from British rule

American polymath who helped to shape the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and vision for the new nation