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54 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What are civil liberties?
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protections (enjoyed by all Americans) from the abuse of government power
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What are civil rights?
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describes protections from discrimination b/c of race, gender, or other minority status -often used to refer to African Americans' struggles for equal status
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What is selective incorporation?
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the SC applying the Bill of Rights to state law on a case-by-case basis
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What rights have NOT been incorporated and can be restricted by the states?
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2nd (gun owning), 3rd (troop quartering), 5th (indictment by grand jury), 7th (jury trial in civil cases), 8th (protection against excessive bail and fines) Amendments
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What freedoms does the First Amendment guarantee?
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freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion
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What limitations are there on freedom of speech?
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clear and present danger test (no 'FIRE!' in a crowded theater, since it results in panic), no protection for libel, slander, obscenity, or violent speech
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What does the preferred position doctrine state?
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freedom of speech is fundamental to liberty- any limits on speech must address severe, imminent threats to the nation, Court protects offensive but nonthreatening speech
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What limitations are there on freedom of the press?
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need to be informed vs. security concerns constantly play out in battle b/w press and gov.
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What is prior restraint?
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government's efforts to prevent publication
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What are shield laws?
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laws designed to protect reporters in state cases, SC has ruled they aren't exempt from testifying in court cases and can be asked to name thier sources
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What is the three-part obscenity test?
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1. does it appeal to a person's baser sexual instincts
2. does it lack other value? 3. does the work depict sexual behavior in an offensive manner? |
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What are limitations of freedom to assemble peacefully?
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right doesn't extend to violent groups and crowd gatherings may not unnecessarily disrupt day-to-day life- groups must apply for licenses to hold parades or street fairs
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What is freedom of association?
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freedoms of speech and assembly combine to form freedom of association, so the gov. can't control number or type of groups people belong to that don't threaten national security
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What are limitations of freedom of religion?
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human sacrifice, polygamy, denial of medical treatment to a child b/c of beliefs are not allowed
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What does the Court weigh against what in religion cases?
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the court weighs individual rights to free religious exercise against society's needs
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What is the Lemon test (established in Lemon vs. Kurtzman 1971)
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1. law must have a secular purpose 2. law can't promote nor discourage religion
3. law can't entangle the government 'excessively' w/ religion and religious institutions |
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What are some religious pecularities allowed by the SC?
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Jehovah's Witnesses don't have to salute the American flag and Amish kids can stop school after 8th grade
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What is self-incrimination?
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a defendent can't be forced to testify in court, and jury isn't supposed to infer guilt when a defendent stays silent
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What does the 4th Amendment limit?
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it limits the power of the government to search for evidence of criminal activity
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What is probable cause?
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a judge must be convinced the police are likely to uncover evidence of illegality before he issues a search warrant (limits what and where police may search and take)
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What is the exclusionary rule?
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evidence found by police who disobey thier search warrants can't be used as evidence in trials
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What is the objective good faith exception?
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it allows for convinctions in which the search wasn't technically legal (due to problems w/ warrant) but was presumed to be legal so the search went ahead
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What is the inevitable discovery rule?
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illegally seized evidence that would have eventually been found legally is also admissible in court
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What are some instances where police don't need a warrant?
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an immediate search after arrest; if owner consents to search; evidence found in plain view (ex. marijuana grown on front lawn); if police believe they can find things that would be gone by the time they got a warrant
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What does the Sixth Amendment gurantee?
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criminal defendants have the right to an attorney in federal cases- Gideon vs. Wainwright incorporated this into the states
also gurantees a speedy trial |
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How does the 'cruel and unusual punishment' clause affect the death penalty?
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the SC has ruled the death penalty is not cruel and unusual if applied properly
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What is the implied right to privacy?
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SC said combination of Amendments 1,3,4,5,9,14 add up to a guarantee of privacy
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The Civil War and relation to slavery
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Emancipation Proclamation (declared slaves are free in rebel states) made the war more clearly about slavery, resulted in an increase of power of fed. gov. which would impose equal rights laws
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13th Amendment
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ratified after Civil War, it made slavery illegal
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14th Amendment
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designed to prevent South from depriving newly freed blacks of thier rights, later on the 'due process' and 'equal protection' clauses were used to bring Bill of Rights to the states, also declared blacks are citizens of nation and state
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15th Amendment
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banned laws preventing African Americans from voting due to race or fact that they previously were slaves- right to vote is now extended to all men
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Civil Rights Act of 1875
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banned discrimination in hotels, restaurants, railroad cars, selection for jury duty -SC declared it unconstitutional in 1883
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Jim Crow laws and voting restrictions
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segregationist laws are Jim Crow laws (SC declared fed. gov. couldn't protect African Americans), poll taxes and literacy tests were used to deprive African Americans of thier voting rights
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What are grandfather clauses?
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exempted voting restrictions to anyone whose grandfather had voted, excluded blacks since thier grandfathers had been slaves who couldn't have voted
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Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)
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declared 'separate but equal' facilities for the different races were legal- opened the door to decades of overt discrimination
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Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)
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declared 'separate but equal' schools illegal, but didn't immediately solve segregation problem (some Southern states paid tuition of white kids at private schools to continue segregation)
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Equal Pay Act of 1963
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illegal to base employee's pay on race, gender, religion, or national origin
-important to many civil rights struggles |
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24th Amendment
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outlawed poll taxes that had been used to prevent blacks and poor whites from voting
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
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banned discrimination in public accommodations, all federally funded programs, hiring based on color and gender -required fed. gov. to cut funding to anything that didn't comply w/ law
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Voting Rights Act of 1965
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designed to counteract Southern voting discrimination, allowed fed. gov. to step in anywhere where less than 50% of the population was registered to vote or where literacy tests were used
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Civil Rights Act, title 8 (1968)
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banned racial discrimination in housing
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Civil Rights Act of 1991
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SC had limited abilities of job applicants and employees to bring suits against discriminatory hiring practices- Act eased restrictions
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What is de facto segregation?
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whites flew to the suburbs and blacks remained in the cities usually which resulted in segregation -white neighborhoods are generally richer which funds better public schools
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What is de jure segregation?
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segregation by law
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What are affirmative action programs?
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programs that seek to create special employment opportunities for blacks, women, and other discrimination victims, are increasingly unpopular (b/c they are basically reverse discrimination)
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Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
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granted 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work after giving birth to both mothers and fathers
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19th Amendment
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granted women the right to vote
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
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gender discrimination section was included by an opponent of the bill who hoped this section would weaken support for the bill, but the bill passed w/ the gender discrimination section in it
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Title 9, Higher Education Act (1972)
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prohibits gender discrimination by colleges that receive fed. funds, has been used to increase funding of women-only programs (ex. women-only sports)
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Age Discrimination Act of 1967
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prohibits employment discrimination based on age, except where necessary to perform better (ex. airline pilots and bus drivers)
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What does an amendment to the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 do?
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an amendment to this law banned some mandatory retirement ages and increased others to 70
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Voting Rights Act of 1972
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requires states to create congressional districts w/ minority majorities to increase minority representation in House -numerous strange shaped districts have been created to try to comply
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Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
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requires businesses w/ more than 24 employees to make thier offices accessible to the disabled, also requires new offices, hotels, and restaurants to be wheelchair accessible if possible, also mandated wider phone services for hearing-impaired
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26th Amendment
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exxtended the right to vote to 18-year-olds
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