Studied by 79 peopleTags & Description
1st amendment
Congress can’t make a law to establish one religion.
government and law are separated.
Freedom of speech, press, religion, protest
2nd amendment
right to bear arms
well regulation of the army
the government cannot take away the peoples guns
3rd amendment
Soldiers cannot stay in a person’s house without their consent and when we are not at war.
4th amendment
If police want to search your house, they need a warrant and they can’t arrest you without probable cause.
5th amendment
Granted right to a grand jury, forbids double jeopardy means person can’t go in for the same thing twice, protection from self-incarnation, right to remain slient
6th amendment
gives people the right of trial by jury, awareness of their charges, to have witnesses during a trail, and the right to have a lawyer.
7th amendment
people can have a trial by jury in federal court when a civil case claims for more than a dollar.
8th amendment
no extra bail, and no cruel and unusual punishment
9th amendment
protection of all rights even if those rights are not written down.
10th amendment
any powers that are not given to the federal government are given to the states and they cannot be withheld.
11th amendment
a person cannot sue another state if they don’t live in that said state.
12th amendment
each person must vote for one person for president and another for vice president.
13th amendment
abolished slavery in all of the united states and their territories.
14th amendment
No state can make a law that discriminates against any citizen example of this is a Jim Crow law.
Equal protection act
CITIZTION FOR ALL
15th amendment
gave African American men the right to vote
16th amendment
allowed for congress to get a levy tax on income from anywhere they got the money from.
17th amendment
allows for people to vote for senators
18th amendment
made liquor illegal. people couldn’t make or sell it, but they could drink it.
19th amendment
granted women the right to vote, also made it illegal to deny anyone to vote because of their gender.
20th amendment
if the president dies or something happens to the president, in which he can’t take office, then the vice president takes his place.
21st amendment
re-established the creation and selling of alcohol.
22nd amendment
the president cannot be in office for more than two terms (8 years)
23rd amendment
Washington D.C has the right to vote
24th amendment
states can’t tax when taking a federal election
25th amendment
if president dies vice president becomes president
26th amendment
people over the age of 18 are able to vote
27th amendment
any law that increases or decreases the salary of Congress can only take effect only after the next election of the House of Representatives
Articles of Confederation
Brought all of the 13 colonies together as the Untied States of America
Sates had more power over the federal government
If one state was attacked they all fought together
People could travel to different states and criminals who did that would be sent back
Each state could send 2 and 7 people to represent them in congress, only had one vote
Central government could call for war and use citizens to fight, some states had to train people to fight
States choose their own military leaders
Each state had to raise money to give to the central government
Central government could call for war and make treaties, also assigned ambassadors
if Canda wanted to they could join the new nation
Limited Government
inspired by the enlightenment, people need a strong government but not with a lot of power
Natural Right
rights given to people at birth by their creator, cannot be taken away by a person in power
John Locke
believed that the state of nature has its own law that all most follow, came up with that no one should take another’s life, liberty, happiness, or property
Thomas Hobbs
believed without a government that people would try to protect their own rights and create more fights
State of Nature
people are free with no government
Popular sovereignty
power to govern is in the hands of the people
Social contract
to protect their rights people give some power to a government
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
believed that the state works for the people not the other way around, if roles are switched then the people must take action and take that government out
Baron De Montesquieu
believed in republicanism, where people elect representatives to represent them in the government to make proper laws for them, believed in separation of powers
Declaration of Independence
influenced by natural rights and that the government gets its power from the people
Constitution
main ideas where separation of powers and republicanism
Conditional Convention
grand committee came together to try and make compromises between different documents.
Representative Republic
instead of a pure democracy the government is made up of different people representing the states and the people in those said states
Participatory Democracy
Emphasizes broad participation in politics and civil society
Baker v.s Carr
happened in 1962 in Tennesse.
Background: states always drew their districts lines, when people moved the lines didn’t, meaning one person would represent 5,000 people
petitioner: Baker
respondent: Carr
Majority Decision: 6-2 in favor of Baker believed that the federal courts requirement of equal protection of the law against state officials even the state legislature itself.
Constitutional question for Baker v.s Carr
Do federal courts have the power to decide cases about the apportionment of population into state legislative districts?
Brown v.s Board of Education
happened in 1954 in Kanas.
Background: Linda Brown tried to gain admission to the Sumner School, which was closer to her house, but her application was denied by the Board of Education of Topeka because of her race. The Sumner School was for white children only.
petitioner: Brown
respondent: Board of Education
Majority Decision: was unanimous ruling that segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Constitutional question for Brown v.s Board of Education
Does segregation of public schools by race violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment?
McCulloch v.s Maryland
happened in 1819 in Maryland
Background: The state of Maryland sued McCulloch, saying that Maryland had the power to tax any business in its state and that the Constitution does not give Congress the power to create a national bank. (Maryland tried to tax out the bank)
petitioner: McCulloch
respondent: Maryland
Majority Decision: unanimous in favor of McCulloch and the federal government, Court also ruled that Maryland could not tax the Bank of the United States.
Constitutional question for McCulloch v.s Maryland
Did Congress have the authority under the Constitution to commission a national bank? If so, did the state of Maryland have the authority to tax a branch of the national bank operating within its borders?
Citizens Untied vs. FEC
happened in 2010
Background: Citizens United, a non-profit organization produced Hillary: The Movie, a film created to persuade voters not to vote for Hillary Clinton. The Federal Election Commission said that Hillary: The Movie was intended to influence voters, and that the organization was not allowed to advertise the film or pay to air it within 30 days of a primary election. Citizens United sued the FEC in federal court, asking to be allowed to show the film.
petitioner: Citizens United
respondent: Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Majority Decision: 5–4, that the First Amendment prohibits limits on corporate funding of independent broadcasts in candidate elections.
Constitutional question for Citizens Untied vs. FEC
Does a law that limits the ability of corporations and labor unions to spend their own money to advocate the election or defeat of a candidate violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech?
Engel vs. Vitale
happened in 1962 in New York
Background: The plaintiffs argued that reciting the daily prayer at the opening of the school day in a public school violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
petitioner: Engel
respondent: Vitale
Majority Decision: 6–1, in favor of the objecting parents, the court ruled that the school-sponsored prayer was unconstitutional because it violated the Establishment Clause. The prayer was a religious activity composed by government officials (school administrators) and used as a part of a government program (school instruction)
Constitutional question for Engel vs. Vitale
Does the recitation of a prayer in public schools violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment?
Gideon vs. Wainwright
happened in 1963 in Flordia
Background: Police arrested Clarence Earl Gideon after he was found nearby with a pint of wine and some change in his pockets. Gideon, who could not afford a lawyer, asked the Florida court to appoint one for him, arguing that the Sixth Amendment entitles everyone to a lawyer. The judge denied his request. While in jail he stuied law and then filed a habeas corpus petition, arguing that he was improperly imprisoned because he had been refused the right to counsel during his trial, thus violating his constitutional rights guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.
petitioner: Giedon
respondent: Wainwright
Majority Decision: ruled unanimously for Gideon saying that that the right to counsel in felony criminal cases is a fundamental right essential to a fair trial. Therefore, this protection from the Sixth Amndment applied to state courts as well as federal courts. State courts must appoint counsel to represent defendants who cannot afford to pay for their own lawyers if charged with a felony.
Constitutional question for Gideon v.s Wainwright
Does the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel in criminal cases extend to defendants in state courts, even in cases in which the death penalty is not at issue?
Marbury vs. Madison
happened in 1803 in D.C
Background: William Marbury, who had been appointed a justice of the peace of the D.C, was one of the appointees who did not receive his commission. Marbury sued James Madison and asked the Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus requiring Madison to deliver the commission.
petitioner: Marbury
respondent: Madison
Majority Decision: unanimously decided not to require Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury, that Marbury was entitled to his commission, but that according to the Constitution, the Court did not have the authority to require Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury in this case.
Constitutional question for Marbury vs. Madison
Does Marbury have a right to his commission, and can he sue the federal government for it? Does the Supreme Court have the authority to order the delivery of the commission?
McDonald vs. City of Chicago
happened in 2010 in Chicago
Background: In 1982, the city of Chicago adopted a handgun ban to combat crime and minimize handgun related deaths and injuries. Chicago’s law required anyone who wanted to own a handgun to register it. Otis McDonald and other Chicago residents sued the city for violating the Constitution. The residents argued that the 14th Amendment makes the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms applicable to state and local governments.
petitioner: McDonald
respondent: City of Chicago
Majority Decision: 3-5 the court concluded that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense is fully applicable to the states under the 14th Amendment.
Constitutional question for McDonald vs. City of Chicago
Does the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms apply to state and local governments through the 14th Amendment and thus limit Chicago’s ability to regulate guns?
New York Times Co. vs. U.S
happened in 1971
Background: Daniel Ellsberg illegally copied over 7,000 pages of classified reports These pages would come to be known as the “Pentagon Papers.” After two stories about the Pentagon Papers, Nixon directed his attorney general to order the Times to stop, claiming the publications would cause “irreparable injury to the defense interests of the United States.” The Times refused and the U.S. government sued the newspaper for violating the Espionage Act.
petitioner: New York Times Co.
respondent: U.S
Majority Decision: ruled, 6−3, for the newspapers. The Court issued a short majority opinion not publicly attributed to any particular justice called a per curiam (or “by the Court”) opinion.
Constitutional question for New York Times Co. vs. U.S
Did the government’s efforts to prevent two newspapers from publishing classified information given to them by a government leaker violate the First Amendment protection of freedom of the press?
Schenck vs. U.S
happened in 1919 in Philadelphia.
Background: Schenck was convicted of violating the Espionage Act. He had printed and mailed 15,000 fliers to draft-age men arguing that conscription (the draft) was unconstitutional and urging them to resist.
petitioner: Schenck
respondent: U.S
Majority Decision: unanimous opinion in favor of the United States
Constitutional question for Schenck vs. U.S
Did Schenck’s conviction under the Espionage Act for criticizing the draft violate his First Amendment free speech rights?
Shaw vs. Reno
happened in 1993 in North Carolina.
Background: Five white voters filed a lawsuit against both state and federal officials in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. They argued that District 12 violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because it was motivated by racial discrimination and resulted in a district drawn almost entirely on racial lines, with the sole purpose of electing black Congressional representatives.
petitioner: Shaw
respondent: Reno
Majority Decision: 5–4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in favor of Shaw, and sent the case back to the lower court to be reheard. Said that drawing districts to advance the perceived interests of one racial group may lead elected officials to see their obligation as representing only members of that group, rather than as a whole. The justices concluded that racial gerrymandering, even for remedial purposes.
Constitutional question for Shaw vs. Reno
Did the North Carolina residents’ claim that the 1990 redistricting plan discriminated on the basis of race raise a valid constitutional issue under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause?
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent
Community School District
happened in 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa
Background: five students, ages 13–16, decided to show opposition to the Vietnam War. The students planned to wear two-inch-wide black armbands to school for two weeks. The school district found out about the students’ plan and preemptively announced a policy that any student who wore a black armband, or refused to take it off, would be suspended from school.
petitioner: Tinker
respondent: Des Moines School District
Majority Decision: ruled in favor of the Tinkers, 7–2 said that students retain their constitutional right to freedom of speech while in public schools. They said that wearing the armbands was a form of speech, because they were intended to express the wearer’s views about the Vietnam War. The Court stressed that this does not mean that schools can never limit students’ speech. That in this case, the armbands would not interfere with the educational process or with other students’ rights.
Constitutional question for Tinker v. Des Moines Independent
Community School District
Does a prohibition against the wearing of armbands in public school, as a form of symbolic speech, violate the students’ freedom of speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment?
United States vs. Lopez
happened in 1995 in a Texas school
Background: Congress passed the Gun Free School Zones Act (GFSZA). In an effort to reduce gun violence in and around schools, ( any area within 1,000 feet of a school) 12th grade student, Alfonso Lopez Jr., was convicted of possessing a gun at a Texas school. Lopez appealed his conviction, arguing that Congress never had the authority to pass the GFSZA in the first place.
petitioner: United States
respondent: Lopez
Majority Decision: ruled in favor of Lopez, 5–4. Ruled that the law exceeded Congress’s authority under the Commerce Clause because carrying a gun in a school zone is not an economic activity. It said that Congress may regulate only:
interstate commerce like highways, waterways, and air traffic.
People, machines, and things moving in, or used in carrying out, interstate commerce.
Economic activities that have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
Constitutional question for United States vs. Lopez
Did Congress have the power to pass the Gun Free School Zones Act?
Wisconsin vs. Yoder
happened in 1972 in Wisconsin
Background: Wisconsin convicted three members of Old Order Amish and Mennonite communities for violating the state’s compulsory education law, which requires attendance at school until the age of 16. Frieda Yoder and two other students had stopped attending school at the end of eighth grade. The Amish claimed that their religious faith and their mode of life are inseparable and interdependent.
petitioner: Wisconsin
respondent: Yoder
Majority Decision: 7–0, in favor of Yoder. Court held that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, as incorporated by the 14th Amendment, prevented the state of Wisconsin from compelling the respondents to send their children to formal secondary school beyond the age of 14.
Constitutional question for Wisconsin vs. Yoder
Under what conditions does the state’s interest in promoting compulsory education override parents’ First Amendment right to free exercise of religion?
Direct democracy
citizens directly govern and make laws
Participatory democracy
it keeps the government close to the people and their opinions.
Representative democracy
system that allows citizens to elect representatives who then govern for them
Elitism
favors the best educated and most qualified members of society to govern in the best interests of the country
Majoritarian democracy
places power in the hands of the majority and allows them to govern based on their ideals, and values
Consensus democracy
promotes the sharing of power across groups. Power is disbursed throughout the system, and all groups are required to compromise with one another
The Declaration of Independence
relies heavily on the ideas of Natural Rights, Popular Sovereignty, and Social Contract Theory. Argued that the former colonies should create their own government because of the abuse under British rule
Perpetual Union
established the United States of America as a country and then later meant that U.S. states are not allowed to leave the Union
The Articles of Confederation
relied heavily on John Locke’s theory of natural rights and very limited government roles
Confederation
a form of government where smaller government units (the states) are the sovereign—or the highest level of authority
Shays’ Rebellion
uprising in western Massachusetts to protest economic conditions, high taxes, and abusive debt and tax collections
What was learned from Shay’s Rebellion?
The weakness of the national government under the Articles when the Congress was not able to fund an army to put down the uprising.
Virginia Plan
made by big states, Congress should have two houses both based on representation by population
New Jersey Plan
made by the small states, Congress should have one house based on equal representation from each state
Great Compromise or the Connecticut Compromise
came up with a two-house legislature, with the House of Representatives being based on population and the Senate being based on equal representation from each state
Bicameral
a two-house legislature
separation of powers
Each branch of government was given specific and unique powers that could not be exercised by the other branches
three branches of government
the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch
checks and balances
Congress can impeach and remove people on the executive and judicial branches, the executive branch has the law enforcement power and commands the military, and the judicial branch has the power to interpret law and the Constitution.
Electoral College
a buffer between the people and the powerful position of president of the United States
Enumerated powers
powers specifically listed in the Constitution
Implied powers
serve as tools with which the national government can get rid of the powers given to them by the Constitution
Article I of the Constitution
created the Congress and legislative branch
House of Representatives
based on population there are 435 seats in the House of Representatives
Speaker of the House
most powerful person in Congress. The Speaker leads the House of Representatives and is selected by its members. almost always a member and the leader of the majority party.
Article II of the Constitution
created the executive branch and the presidency
Article III of the Constitution
created the judicial branch and the Supreme Court
Main thing that came out of Marbury v. Madison
judicial review
judicial review
only the courts have the power to interpret law and the constitution.
Article IV of the Constitution
expanded on the idea of federalism, noting what states owe to each other and what the national government owes to the states
Note
Flashcard