First Article of the Constitution
legislative branch
Second Article of the Constitution
executive branch
Third Article of the Constitution
judicial branch
Fourth Article of the Constitution
states' rights
Fifth Article of the Constitution
how to make amendments
Sixth Article of the Constitution
supremacy clause
Seventh Article of the Constitution
signatures
Process of making amendments
needs 2/3 vote by both houses of Congress or a special convention to be proposed and 3/4 vote of state legislatures or special convention to be ratified
Civil Liberties
fundamental rights and freedoms protected from infringement by the government
Bill of Rights
ratified in 1791, the first ten amendments to the Constitution
First Amendment
5 freedoms: speech, press, religion, assembly, petition
First Amendment clauses
establishment clause and free exercise clause
Establishment clause
clause in the first amendment that says the government may not establish an official religion
Free exercise clause
a first amendment provision that prohibits government from interfering with the practice of religion
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Amish do not have to attend school after 8th grade, right to freedom of religion
Engel v. Vitale
banned formal prayer in schools, government could not make any religion the official religion
Free expression
freedom to express political beliefs and opinions; rights to free speech, press, petition, and assembly
Limitations to free expression
clear and present danger, prior restraint
Clear and present danger
legal standard that speech passing an immediate and serious threat to national security is not protected under the first amendment
Prior restraint
when the government censors or suppresses material before it's published
New York Times v. U.S.
protected the freedom of the press by allowing the New York Times to publish the "Pentagon Papers" despite the Justice Department's order to restrict it
Symbolic speech
use of images, signs, and symbols as forms of political expression
Limitations to freedom of speech
slander, libel, obscenity, and pornography are not protected by the first amendment; the government can also regulate the time, place, and manner of protected speech in protests
Slander
spoken lies
Libel
written lies
Why is it hard to sue for slander or libel?
the aggrieved party must show that the statements were made with the knowledge that they were untrue
How can the government regulate the time, place, and manner of protected speech in protests?
it can impose limits on the noise level of speech, cap the number of protesters who may occupy a given forum, bar early morning or late night protests, and require protesters to obtain a permit to protest on government ground
Fourteenth Amendment
made "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" citizens of the country, includes due process clause and equal protection clause
Selective incorporation
the piecemeal process through which the Supreme Court has affirmed that almost all of the protections in the Bill of Rights also apply to state governments
D.C. v. Heller (2008)
struck down a Washington DC ordinance that banned handguns, but didn't prevent all states from banning guns because D.C. isn't a state
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
struck down a handgun ban in Chicago, deemed that states can't restrict the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense
Rights of the accused are found in the _____, _____, _____, and ______ amendments.
4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th
Fourth Amendment
protects against unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant
Warrant
a legal paper, issued by a court, giving police permission to make an arrest, seizure, or search based on a probable cause
Probable cause
reasonable belief that a crime has been committed
Exclusionary rule
evidence obtained without a warrant is not admissible in court
Fifth Amendment
a constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and punishment without due process of law
Procedural due process in court
the court is required to follow established procedures
Grand jury
a group of citizens that decides whether there is sufficient evidence to accuse someone of a crime
Miranda rights
a list of rights that police in the United States must read to suspects in custody before questioning them
Sixth Amendment
A constitutional amendment designed to protect individuals accused of crimes, including the right to counsel, the right to confront and have witnesses, right to know why they were accused, and the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury
Gideon v. Wainwright significance
a person who cannot afford an attorney may have one appointed by the government
Eighth Amendment
prohibits excessive bail and cruel or unusual punishment
Bail
a sum of money used as a security deposit to ensure that an accused person returns for his or her trial
Civil rights
the government's protection of individuals from discrimination as members of particular groups
Civil Rights Amendments
13th, 14th, and 15th amendments
Thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery
Fifteenth Amendment
the constitutional amendment adopted in 1870 to extend suffrage to African Americans and prohibited states from discriminating in voting based on race
Two types of segregation
de jure segregation and de facto segregation
De jure segregation
legal segregation, difficult to change but only requires the changing of laws
De facto segregation
segregation in culture, much harder to change than de jure because it requires changing people's minds
Jim Crow Laws
laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites
Civil disobedience
a form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral
Claudette Calvin
At 15 years old, she was the first African American to refuse to give up her seat to a white woman on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, leading Rosa Parks to do the same
Montgomery bus boycott
In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal
Freedom Riders
group of civil rights workers who took bus trips through southern states in 1961 to protest illegal bus segregation
Greensboro Sit-Ins
black students politely ordered food from a restaurant, but were not served, so they sat in that place for days, gathering supporters who did the same
Martin Luther King, Jr.
leader of the civil rights movement
Civil Rights Act of 1964
this act made racial, religious, and gender discrimination by employers illegal and gave the government the power to enforce all laws governing civil rights, including desegregation of schools and public places.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
a law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African-American suffrage, particularly literacy tests
A Call for Unity
a letter published by eight white clergymen condemning outside agitation and direct action, while arguing that those seeking change should use the courts
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
a letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. while in jail to defend his tactics and timing that were criticized by a group of white clergy as being an ill-timed threat to law and order by an "outsider".
Affirmative Action
a policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities
Supreme Court standards for decisions on discrimination
strict scrutiny, rational based standard, and intermediate scrutiny
Strict scrutiny
a Supreme Court test to see if a law shows a "compelling interest" to justify unequal treatment, such as Affirmative Action
Rational based standard
differential treatment must be shown to be reasonable and not arbitrary, like how air traffic controllers have to retire by age 56
Intermediate scrutiny
an intermediate standard used by the Supreme Court to determine whether a law is constitutional if it advances "an important government objective" and is "substantially related" to the objective, like how only men register for the draft at 18
First Wave of the Women's Rights Movement
focused on the right to vote
Second Wave of the Women's Rights Movement
focused on equality in schools and the workplace
19th Amendment
gave women the right to vote
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
bans employment discrimination based on identity - gender, race, ethnicity, etc.
Title IX of Education Act of 1972
forbids gender discrimination in federally subsidized education programs, including athletics
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman for purposes of federal law
U.S. v. Windsor
struck down key section of the Defense of Marriage Act, declaring that same-sex marriage will be recognized by the federal government but the states can regulate marriage as they wish
Obergefell v. Hodges
legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, calling the right to marriage a fundamental right