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43 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Ex post facto law |
Retroactive criminal law that works to the disadvantage of an individual; forbidden in the constitution |
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Bill of attainder |
Legislative act inflicting punishment, including deprivation of property, without a trial, on named individuals or members of a specific group |
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Due process clause |
Clause in the fifth amendment limiting the power of the national government; similar clause in fourteenth amendment prohibiting state governments from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law |
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Selective incorporation |
The process by which provisions of the Bill of Rights are brought within the scope of the fourteenth amendment and so applied to state and local governments |
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Establishment clause |
Clause in the first amendment that states that congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. It has been interpreted by the supreme court as forbidding governmental support to any or all religions |
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Vouchers |
Money provided by the government to parents for payment of their children's tuition in a public or private school of their choice |
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Bad tendency test |
Interpretation of the first amendment that would permit legislatures to forbid speech encouraging people to engage in illegal action |
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Clear and present danger test |
Interpretation of the first amendment that holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal actions. Fire in a crowded theatre is dash famous example |
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Preferred position doctrine |
Interpretation of the first amendment that holds that freedom of expression is so essential to democracy that governments should not punish persons for what they say, only for what they do |
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Nonprotected speech |
Libel, obscenity, fighting words, and commercial speech, which are not entitled to constitutional protection in all circumstances |
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Libel |
Written defamation of another person. Especially in the car of public officials and public figures, the constitutional tests designed to restrict this are very rigid |
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Sedition |
Attempting to overthrow the government by force or to interrupt its activities by violence |
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Obscenity |
Quality or state of a work that taken as a whole appeals to a prurient interest in sex by depicting sexual conduct in a patently offensive way and that lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value |
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Fighting words |
Words that by their nature inflict injury on those to whom they are addressed or incite them to acts of violence |
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Commercial speech |
Advertisements and commercials for products and services; they receive less first amendment protection, primarily to discourage falls and misleading ads |
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Prior restraint |
Censorship imposed before a speech is made or a newspaper is published; usually presumed to be unconstitutional |
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Civil disobedience |
Deliberate refusal to obey a law or comply with the orders of a public official as a means of expressing opposition |
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Naturalization |
A legal action conferring citizenship on an alien |
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Dual citizenship |
Citizenship in more than one nation |
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Right of expatriation |
The right to renounce one's citizenship |
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Property rights |
The rights of an individual to own, use, rent, invest in, buy, and sell property |
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Contact clause |
Clause of constitution originally intended to prohibit state governments from modifying contacts made between individuals; for a while interpreted as prohibiting state governments from taking actions that adversely affect property rights; no longer interpreted so broadly and no longer constrains state governments from exercising their police powers |
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Police powers |
Inherent powers of state governments to pass laws to protect the public health, safety, and welfare; the national government has no directly granted police powers but accomplishes the same goals through other delegates powers |
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Eminent domain |
Power of a government to take private property for public use; the constitution gives national and state governments this power and requires them to provide just compensation for the taken property |
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Regulatory taking |
Government regulation of property so extensive that government is deemed to have taken the property by the power of eminent domain, for which it must compensate the property owners |
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Due process |
Established rules and regulations that restrain people in government who exercise power |
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Procedural due process |
Constitutional requirement that governments process by proper methods; places limits on how governmental power may be exercised |
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Substantive due process |
Constitutional requirement that governments act reasonably and that the substance of the laws themselves be fair and reasonable; places limits on what a government may do |
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Search warrant |
A writ issued by a magistrate that authorizes the police to search a particular place or person, specifying the place to be searched and the objects to be seized |
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Racial profiling |
Police targeting of racial minorities as potential suspects of criminal activities |
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Exclusionary rule |
Requirement that evidence unconstitutionally or illegally obtained be excluded from a criminal trial |
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Immunity |
Exemption from prosecution for a particular crime in return for testimony pertaining to the case |
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Indictment |
Formal written statement from a grand jury charging an individual with an offense; also called a true bill |
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Double jeopardy |
Trial or punishment for the same crime by the same government; forbidden by the constitution |
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Community policing |
Assuming police to neighborhoods where they walk the beat and work with churches and other community groups to reduce crime and improve relations with minorities |
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Natural rights |
The rights of all people to dignity and worth; also called human rights |
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Affirmative action |
Remedial action designed to overcome the effects of past discrimination against minorities and women |
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White primary |
Primary operated by the democratic party in southern states that, before republicans gained strength in the "one party south," essentially constituted an election; ruled unconstitutional in Smith v Allwright |
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Racial gerrymandering |
Drawing of election districts so as to ensure that members of a certain race are the minority in a district; ruled unconstitutional |
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Majority-minority district |
Congressional district created to include a majority of minority voters; ruled constitutional so long as race is not the main factor in redistricting |
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De jure segregation |
Segregation imposed by law |
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De facto segregation |
Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice |
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Restrictive covenant |
Provision in a deed to real property prohibiting its sake to a person of a particular trace or religion; judicial enforcement of such deeds is unconstitutional |
